Daejeon Sarang Card
Daejeon Sarang Card is the local currency of Daejeon Metropolitan City in South Korea, launched in May 2020 as Ontong Daejeon and renamed in 2023. Users load Korean won onto a prepaid card and earn 10% cashback within a monthly limit when paying at roughly 64,000 small businesses across the city. After a pause during national subsidy cuts, the program returned in July 2025 and moved to year-round operation in January 2026 with an annual issuance target of 500 billion won, supported by South Korea's new law guaranteeing state funding for regional currencies.
Korea's clearest natural experiment in subsidy-dependent local currency: strong merchant coverage and a fresh 2026 restart under a new national support law, but the 2023-2025 suspension exposed full dependence on political will and fiat budgets. Scores below its uninterrupted peers (Tamna-jeon 2.5) at M69 2.3, minimally aligned.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x3.0
City-controlled issuer (IM-01: 1) with purely prepaid, debt-free creation (IM-02: 5); supply tracks user charging within budget-set caps and contracts on merchant redemption (IM-03: 2, IM-04: 3, IM-05: 3). Average 2.8.
Spending Power Stability2x2.0
Passive 1:1 KRW peg via full fiat backing (SPS-01: 2) against a single moderate-inflation fiat benchmark (SPS-02: 2); no purchasing-power targeting beyond the peg (SPS-04: 3, SPS-05: 2); city-bounded access (SPS-06: 2). Weighted 2.3.
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x1.0
Hard KRW peg, 100% fiat reserves, bank-operated rails (Hana Bank, NH Nonghyup), no independence path or composability — 1 across FI-01..08.
Traction2x3.0
Roughly 64,000 accepting merchants (TR-04: 5) and six years of existence (TR-02: 4) with substantial user base carried over from Ontong Daejeon (TR-03: 4), but the program is in restart mode after a multi-year cashback suspension (TR-01: 4, TR-10: 4), demand is demonstrably incentive-dependent (TR-09: 2), the won is the unit of account (TR-05: 2), and civic identity is thinner than peers (TR-11: 2). Weighted 3.2.
Sovereignty1.0
City hall can suspend it — and did (SO-01: 1); custodial real-name card accounts with full transaction visibility to operator banks and the city (SO-04: 1, SO-08: 1); rules are policy documents (SO-09: 1). Weighted 1.4.
Governance3.0
Formal municipal process and public budgets (GO-01: 4, GO-03: 3) now backed by the January 2026 national support law (GO-07: 3), but the 2023 suspension showed monetary parameters move at a single administration's discretion (GO-04: 2, GO-08: 2). Weighted 2.5.
Resilience2.0
The program was suspended when subsidies were cut and needed a political turn to revive — survival depended on intervention (RE-01: 2, RE-06: 2, RE-07: 2); full fiat backing kept redemption whole throughout (RE-03: 3) and card rails are proven tech (RE-04: 4, RE-05: 4). Weighted 2.2.
Inclusivity3.0
Free participation with positive cashback (IN-02: 5), benefits directed at small merchants via revenue-tiered eligibility (IN-04: 4, IN-05: 4), monthly caps limit concentration (IN-07: 4); real-name ID and city bounds gate access (IN-01: 3, IN-06: 2). Weighted 3.5.