South Korean Stablecoin Project Raises $32 Million From Binance, OKEx, Others

This article previously conflated Terra and partner company TMON. It has been updated for clarity.

A new stablecoin project out of South Korea, dubbed Terra, revealed it has closed a $32 million funding round led by a string of major crypto exchanges, in a press release Wednesday, August 29.

Terra was co-founded by Daniel Shin, the creator of South Korean e-commerce marketplace Ticket Monster (TMON), which boasts a considerable $4 billion in total sales. According to the press release, upon launch the stablecoin will be integrated into the payment systems of the so-called Terra Alliance, a group of global eCommerce partners that includes TMON, as well as others.

“From experience, I know that faster, more secure transactions at a fraction of today’s fees could be a game-changer for many eCommerce platforms,” Shin commented, describing the token’s potential as “immense”:

“We foresee [Terra] being used for all types and forms of financial products like loans and insurance.”

Stablecoins are currently gaining popularity across various sectors of the global economy. Even banks, the first of which being Lichtenstein’s Union Bank earlier this month, have opted to issue their own token, which is usually tied to a fiat currency.

The Terra move marks a further conspicuous investment for Binance meanwhile, the exchange giant’s investment arm having signalled plans to create a huge $1 billion fund in June.

Explaining the impetus behind its contribution, Binance Labs head Ella Zhang highlighted Terra’s existing partner network of companies already waiting to use the token.

“While we see many stablecoins coming out, Terra's journey is especially meaningful as they are designing one of the few price-stable protocols with existing, working, and strong go-to-market strategy and usage,” she said.

Shin forecast beta testing of the Terra payment system to begin in Q4.