Key Takeaways:
- Ondo Finance and Kakaopay Securities will be looking at tokenizing Korean stocks.
- The underlying Korean-listed shares will be sourced and held by Kakaopay.
- Commercial products will await approval in Korea and abroad.
Ondo Finance is teaming up with Kakaopay Securities to explore bringing Korean-listed stocks to international investors through tokenization.
The partnership will leverage Ondo’s global tokenized asset distribution network and Kakaopay Securities’ domestic market infrastructure, with the two firms initially considering constructing systems to source, store and potentially tokenise Korean securities.
Ondo and Kakaopay Build Tokenized Korean Stock Framework
Under the MOU signed on 28 September, the companies agreed on three key areas, namely international distribution of the Korean market’s equity offerings, a research program on tokenization infrastructure and prospects for the global retail investor.
The first step will be on the stocks themselves. Kakaopay Securities plans to operate a foreign investor omnibus account that can be used to source, custody and administer Korean-listed shares. Such holdings may be the support for tokenized equity products sometime in future.
Ondo and Kakaopay will also explore possible mechanisms for the issuing and redemption of the tokens, as well as the systems needed to ensure that the number of tokens held matches the number of shares held.
Read More: Ondo Unlocks $3.6B Tokenized Market With Direct Stock-to-Token Conversions
Token Issuance and Redemption Come Next
Technical work will be focused on balance management, reconciliation and execution of transitions of the investors from tokenized assets to securities and back.
The companies have yet to reveal any of the Korean stocks they might tokenize first.
They’ve also not announced when they’d like to launch in the commercial market. Any rollout will require securities laws, regulatory guidance and investor protection requirements in South Korea and the markets in which the products might be distributed.
Korean Equities Could Reach a Wider Crypto Investor Base
If Korean stocks go onchain, Ondo will already have one of the largest onchain tokenized equities platforms, providing an existing distribution channel.
Kakaopay Securities brings with him the local infrastructure to deal with underlying securities. It’s a blend that might bring more Korean companies in line with foreign investors’ investing portfolio other than the traditional brokerage channel.
The deal in particular will target the international retail investor, and a joint task force will review the product structures and distribution plans to do so.
Tokenized Stocks Reach $3.2B Market
It is a partnership at a time of fast expansion of tokenized equities. By late September 2026, the total distributed value of tokenized stocks was approximately $3.2 billion, with the market being very concentrated, mainly with exchange-traded funds and U.S.-listed stocks.
Products already account for a major share of the industry for companies like Nvidia, Tesla, Circle and Strategy. The inclusion of Korean stocks would diversify the geographic spread of tokenization projects, and provide crypto investors worldwide with another major stock exchange market where they could gain exposure.
Later this year, Ondo and Kakaopay are planning to create a joint task force to further fine-tune the custody model, sharesourcing process and tokenised infrastructure before taking any decision about commercialisation.
Read More: Blockchain.com and NYSE Target 24/7 Tokenized Stocks for 44 Million Crypto Accounts
