South Korea’s Kakaopay Securities announced Tuesday that it has entered into separate partnerships with tokenization providers Dinari and Ondo Finance. The agreements aim to explore the sourcing, tokenization, and distribution of Korean-listed equities to investors in international markets. Under the partnership with Dinari, the companies will conduct a proof of concept using Dinari’s dShares model, which is designed to preserve shareholder rights such as dividends and voting. While Dinari currently offers 724 tokenized US stocks and ETFs, this initiative seeks to extend the model to Korean equities. Dinari CEO Gabe Otte stated that no specific Korean companies have been selected for the pilot and that there is no public timeline for commercial availability. The proposed structure would use locally listed Korean shares as underlying assets rather than price-tracking tokens.
The agreement with Ondo focuses initially on establishing a framework for sourcing and custodying Korean-listed shares that could later be tokenized. Kakaopay will operate a foreign investor omnibus account to hold and administer these underlying shares. Both parties will also research token issuance and redemption mechanisms. They emphasized that any decision regarding the commercialization of tokenized Korean equities depends on legal and regulatory requirements in South Korea and overseas markets. These developments occur as South Korea prepares to implement a new regulatory framework for tokenized securities, approved by the National Assembly in January, which recognizes distributed ledgers as valid securities registries. The framework is scheduled to take effect in February 2027, coinciding with infrastructure development by the Korea Securities Depository.
This collaboration signals a strategic move by major Asian financial institutions to test blockchain-based equity structures ahead of formal regulatory implementation. By separating the operational groundwork from immediate commercial launch, Kakaopay, Dinari, and Ondo are prioritizing compliance and technical feasibility over speed. The reliance on an omnibus account structure for custody suggests an attempt to navigate existing cross-border settlement complexities while preparing for the upcoming recognition of distributed ledgers as valid securities registries in South Korea. This approach allows the partners to refine their models within the current legal gray area before the February 2027 effective date of the new framework.
The market impact may be limited in the short term given the lack of a public timeline and the absence of selected underlying assets. However, the initiative highlights a growing institutional interest in diversifying tokenized stock offerings beyond the heavily concentrated US equity market, which currently dominates the $3.2 billion sector. Success in this pilot could provide a template for other jurisdictions seeking to integrate traditional capital markets with blockchain infrastructure, potentially accelerating broader institutional adoption once the regulatory environment stabilizes.
