Toss, operated by Seoul-based Viva Republica and boasting more than 24 million monthly active users, is reportedly evaluating both its own Layer 1 blockchain and a proprietary Layer 2 network. The report does not specify whether the Layer 2 would be built on Toss's own Layer 1 or on an existing public chain.

A Layer 1 is a base blockchain network, similar to Ethereum or Bitcoin, while a Layer 2 runs on top of an existing chain to process transactions faster and more cheaply. The Block's report does not identify a source. What is confirmed: Toss has already stood up a dedicated blockchain division in early 2026, currently staffed by five to six engineers with active hiring underway.

The confirmed scope of that internal team is already significant. According to reporting from Bloomingbit, the unit is building custody wallet systems, transaction processing APIs, node operations, and cryptography-based signing infrastructure (HSM).

An unnamed Toss official told Bloomingbit the unit exists to "respond quickly when the virtual-asset framework is put in place" in South Korea.

The company is also separately evaluating a decentralized application store, which would give outside developers a channel to reach Toss's verified user base.

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Stablecoin Plans Are Already on the Record

Separate from the unconfirmed token reports, Toss's corporate development director Seo Chang-whoon made explicit commitments to stablecoin issuance at the 2026 Seoul Blockchain Meetup Conference on March 12. The event was co-hosted by South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet and Security Agency. "We will issue and distribute won-based stablecoin. That I can say for sure," Seo told attendees. He also outlined the company's "Money 3.0" vision, a strategic framework describing money as "universal, programmable, verifiable, composable, and seamless," with a target of becoming a "borderless financial super app" by 2026.

As a proof of concept, Toss demonstrated integration between its SohoScore credit-scoring model and blockchain smart contracts, showing automated loan execution and interest rate adjustment.

The company has also announced targets to deploy 500,000 FacePay biometric payment terminals across South Korean retail locations by the end of 2026, expanding to 700,000 by 2027.

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Timing: IPO and Regulatory Backdrop

The reports arrive as Toss prepares for a US initial public offering targeted for Q2 2026, with a valuation range of $10 billion to $15 billion. If completed at the upper range, it would be the largest US listing by a South Korean company since e-commerce platform Coupang raised $4.6 billion in 2021. For context, Toss reported 2023 revenue of ₩1.96 trillion (approximately $1.9 billion) and recorded its first-ever operating profit of ₩90.7 billion that same year, figures that provide grounding for the IPO valuation range.

Signaling reported blockchain plans before an institutional roadshow could serve as a narrative for growth-stage investors, though it also adds regulatory complexity to a company already navigating Korea's contested digital asset legislation.

That legislation, the Digital Asset Basic Act, has been repeatedly delayed, with its central dispute pitting the Bank of Korea against the Financial Services Commission. The Bank of Korea wants stablecoin issuance restricted to bank-led consortiums with at least 51 percent bank ownership, while the Financial Services Commission has pushed for broader fintech inclusion. The Bank of Korea has also published a report exceeding 100 pages laying out its grave concerns about non-bank stablecoin issuance. President Lee Jae-myung has made won stablecoin adoption a political priority, adding further pressure to resolve the standoff. Ahn Do-geol, a Democratic Party policy consultant, argued that restricting issuance to banks would undercut stablecoins' potential. "With this governance model, it will be difficult to achieve the network effects and technological breakthroughs that stablecoins can deliver," he said.

A native token on a proprietary mainnet, rather than a bank-issued stablecoin, would place Toss in a different regulatory category entirely, potentially giving it more operational flexibility but also carrying greater regulatory exposure.

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Regional Stakes for Asia, Africa, and Developers

Toss reaches approximately 46 percent of South Korea's population. That built-in distribution is the key differentiator compared with the closest regional precedent, the Kaia blockchain. Kaia is the merged product of Kakao's Klaytn and Naver-LINE's Finschia networks, launched on mainnet in August 2024 with one-second block finality. Its team has stated an ambition to "surpass global Layer 1 blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana." Despite the technical ambition, Kaia has yet to demonstrate mass consumer adoption. Toss would embed blockchain rails directly into services users already rely on for banking, investing, and insurance, skipping the onboarding friction that has limited most consumer crypto products.

The stakes extend well beyond Korea's borders. In South and Southeast Asia, Korean diaspora remittance corridors represent substantial payment volumes flowing into markets with already-high crypto engagement. India ranks first globally in the 2026 Crypto Adoption Index, Indonesia ranks third, and Pakistan ranks eighth. A Toss blockchain infrastructure paired with won-denominated stablecoins could offer a lower-cost settlement layer for remittances into these corridors, where the combination of regulatory openness and large diaspora populations creates meaningful demand.

Won-denominated stablecoins are already in circulation in global markets: KRW1, launched by BDACS on Avalanche in September 2025, and KRWQ, launched on Coinbase's Base network in October 2025. Analysts estimate potential KRW stablecoin market demand at ₩20 trillion (approximately $14.7 billion) over three years, a figure that underscores the addressable scale for any regulated Korean issuer.

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 180 percent year-over-year stablecoin growth between mid-2025 and early 2026, according to Chainalysis, driven by cross-border remittances, merchant payments, and savings dollarization.

Nigeria (#2), Ethiopia (#10), Kenya (#13), and Ghana (#20) all rank in the global top 20 for crypto adoption. A regulated, IPO-bound fintech launching a compliant token framework in Korea would give regulators in those markets a concrete model to reference.

No token contract address, testnet deployment, or on-chain activity related to a Toss native token has been identified as of publication. Any confirmed technical milestones will be updated here as they emerge.