Hanwha Investment & Securities is preparing for South Korea’s next phase of digital-asset adoption after reportedly developing a tokenized securities platform on Avalanche ahead of regulatory changes that will formally bring security tokens into the country’s capital-markets system.
The South Korean brokerage began developing the platform in 2025 with blockchain technology company FairSquare Lab, according to a report cited by The Block. The infrastructure was designed to operate across multiple blockchain networks, including Avalanche and Hyperledger Besu.
The development comes at an important moment for South Korea’s financial sector, with new legislation scheduled to take effect on February 4, 2027.
South Korea Moves Security Tokens Into the Financial System
South Korea has been preparing a formal regulatory framework for tokenized securities, moving the technology closer to the country’s established capital-markets infrastructure.
Under the upcoming amendments, distributed ledgers will be legally recognized as securities registers, while security tokens will be incorporated into the existing financial system.
The Financial Services Commission has outlined a phased implementation approach.
The initial stage is expected to cover assets including privately placed money-market funds, bonds, certain unlisted stocks held through trust structures and fractional investment securities. The framework could eventually expand to cover publicly offered securities as the regulatory system develops.
For financial institutions, the regulatory clarity creates a stronger incentive to develop the infrastructure required to issue and manage tokenized assets.
Why Hanwha Is Using Avalanche
Hanwha’s reported decision to build on Avalanche is significant because it puts a traditional financial institution’s tokenization efforts directly into a public blockchain environment.
Tokenized securities essentially represent traditional financial assets on blockchain infrastructure. The potential benefits include faster settlement, automated compliance and corporate actions, greater transparency and the possibility of fractional ownership.
Hanwha’s platform is reportedly designed to work across more than one blockchain rather than relying exclusively on Avalanche. That multi-network approach could give the company greater flexibility as South Korea’s digital-asset infrastructure develops.
It also reflects a broader trend among financial institutions toward treating blockchain as an infrastructure layer rather than simply as a market for cryptocurrencies.
Hanwha Is Expanding Its Blockchain Exposure
The tokenization platform is not an isolated move for Hanwha.
The broader Hanwha Group has built a 9.6% stake in Securitize, making it the company’s largest shareholder. Securitize specializes in bringing traditional financial assets onto blockchain networks.
In July, Hanwha Investment & Securities also announced a 30 billion Korean won investment, equivalent to about $22.3 million, in Digital Asset, the company behind Canton Network.
Those moves suggest that Hanwha is building exposure across several parts of the tokenization ecosystem rather than betting on a single blockchain platform.
Tokenized Securities Could Become a Major Korean Market
The most significant development may come after the new regulations take effect.
South Korea’s financial authorities ultimately want to expand tokenization beyond the initial group of assets. The roadmap could eventually support tokenized public securities and on-chain payment infrastructure that allows investors to settle tokenized securities using stablecoins.
That would represent a much broader role for blockchain within the traditional financial system.
For Avalanche, Hanwha’s platform also represents another example of a public blockchain being used by an established financial institution for regulated financial infrastructure.
The success of the project will depend on more than blockchain technology, however. Regulatory compliance, investor protection, liquidity and interoperability between different networks will determine whether tokenized securities can move from pilot projects into a meaningful part of South Korea’s capital markets.
With the regulatory framework approaching its February 2027 implementation date, Hanwha’s early preparation puts the company in position to test that model before the new rules fully reshape the market.
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