CBDC 2·3형 통화의 스테이블코인성 및 전자화폐로 포섭에 관한 법적 연구

This paper aims to establish a legal basis for incorporating stablecoins as electronic money under the ‘Electronic Financial transactions Act’(EFTA) and to explore the possibility of applying this framework to the three-tier model of Central Bank Digital Currency(CBDC) proposed by the Bank of Korea. Unlike traditional virtual assets, stablecoins are designed to maintain price stability by pegging issued in equal proportion to reserve such as fiat currencies or government bonds, making them functionally suitable as a means of payments. Under the EFTA, electronic money must satisfy four core requirements: (i)usability as a means of payments, (ii)wide acceptability, (iii)equivalence in cash value, and (iv)redeemability. This paper analyses how stablecoins can meet these criteria from a legal perspective. The Bank of Korea’s CBDC model consists of Type 1(direct issuance), Type 2(bank-issued), and Type 3(private-sector issued) currencies. Since Type 1 CBDC constitutes legal tender under the ‘Bank of Korea Act’, this study focuses on Type 2 and 3 currencies, which resemble stablecoin structures. While Type 2 is issued by banks and thus capable of integration with the existing regulatory framework and deposit protection schemes, Type 3 is issued by private Fin-Tech corporations and presents challegnces in terms of legal certainty and consumer protection. Although stablecoins that qualify as electronic money are excluded from the definition of virtual assets under the ‘Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users’, this paper argues for a legislative exception allowing Type 3 stablecoins to be handled by Virtual Asset Service Provicers(VASPs), in order to mitigate market contraction risks. In conclusion, the incorporation of stablecoins into the legal definition of electronic money requires regulatory reform to ensure effective redeemability, supervisory oversight, payment finaility, and clear legal separation from virtual asets. Given that the legal risks deffer depending on whether the issuing entity is a bank or a private company, a differentiated regulatory approach is essential. This paper offers a legal framework for recognising stablecoins as electronic money and provides practical suggestions for integrating them into Korea’s CBDC architecture. It is hoped that this study will contribute to future legislative discussions balancing financial innovatioin and consumer protection.