LG CNS, an AX-specialist company, said on Jan. 22 it has conducted a pilot with the Bank of Korea of an “agentic AI-based digital currency auto-payment system” in which AI carries out product search, purchase decisions and payments.

The pilot is part of “Project Hangang,” which the Bank of Korea has been conducting since last year. It focuses on building next-generation payment infrastructure in which AI autonomously performs the entire commerce process, using a digital currency platform where deposit tokens - tokenised bank deposits - circulate.

LG CNS explained that by verifying the stability and efficiency of AI auto-payments using blockchain-based digital currency through the project, it also confirmed the potential for expanded use of digital currency in the future.

In the pilot, LG CNS and the Bank of Korea set a digital content creator as a virtual persona and assumed a real commerce environment in which content sources are purchased across multiple platforms for content production. Based on this, they implemented an automated scenario in which an AI agent performs product search and comparison and makes purchase decisions, and verified technical stability and practicality.

The Bank of Korea plans to continue research so it can support stablecoins and other digital currencies similar to deposit tokens as payment methods in the future.

Hong-geun Kim (김홍근), vice president and head of LG CNS’ Digital Business Division, said: “We confirmed the technical feasibility of a digital currency auto-payment structure based on agentic AI technology.” He added: “Based on this, we will continue to support the Bank of Korea so it can proactively prepare future payment infrastructure.”

LG CNS is the main project operator for the Bank of Korea’s Project Hangang and is responsible for blockchain technology development and platform construction. Earlier, LG CNS completed construction of the Bank of Korea’s digital currency platform and conducted live transaction tests from April to June last year for about 80,000 customers of 7 participating banks. It is currently preparing a “pilot project for disbursing government subsidies based on a digital currency platform” as part of follow-up live transaction work under Project Hangang.