抢 cổ phiếu, tranh hạ tầng, hỗn loạn giữa các tổ chức tiền điện tử Hàn Quốc

Original Authors: Henry Kim, Ryan Yoon

Original Compiled by: Chopper, Foresight News

South Korean financial institutions are accelerating collaborations and equity acquisitions in the crypto sector, but the industry landscape remains complex. Various cooperation agreements are frequently announced, but truly commercialized projects are scarce. This article analyzes the reasons for the low implementation rate of these partnerships and why institutions continue to increase their presence.

TL;DR

• Institutional crypto businesses in Korea have moved from the letter of intent stage to substantive operations and exchange equity acquisitions.
• Major institutions are competing for control over key financial infrastructure, covering areas such as setting standards for Security Token Offerings (STO), stablecoin payment channels, and asset custody markets.
• Local infrastructure service providers are emerging as core pillars of institutional businesses. Companies are building proprietary technology chains based on the Bank of Korea's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) framework and local regulations, reducing dependence on overseas technology.
• The strategy of overseas Web3 public chain foundations in Korea has fundamentally shifted. Traditional finance is gradually dominating the market. Overseas institutions are no longer focusing on retail community engagement but are seeking partnerships with large corporations and financial institutions.

Flood of Memoranda of Understanding, Industry Enters a 'Signing Competition'

The above chart, compiled by Tiger Research, maps the partnership network of various crypto institutions in Korea. The entire landscape is intricate, making it difficult for outsiders to distinguish which collaborations are operational and which are merely intentions. The boundaries between core industry players and peripheral participants are also very blurred.

This complex landscape accurately reflects the current state of the Korean institutional crypto market. Tiger Research analyzed 150 institutions and 196 collaboration cases, finding that no single entity has achieved absolute dominance.

Ahead of the formal implementation of relevant regulations, local Korean institutions are aggressively staking claims and securing their positions. Current competition is concentrated in three main areas: stablecoins, Security Token Offerings (STOs), and crypto asset custody.

Another notable trend is the intensive acquisition of crypto exchange equity by financial institutions. Industry observers view this as a move by institutions to secure market positions ahead of regulatory clarity and a signal of their long-term bullish outlook.

All-Out War for Exchange Equity

Hana Bank announced it would spend approximately KRW 1 trillion (about $720 million) to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit. Just ten days later, Hanwha Investment & Securities received approval to increase its stake by an additional 3.90%. On the 28th of the same month, Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS, and Samsung Card jointly acquired a 4.0% stake in the platform.

Mirae Asset Securities had already signed an agreement in February to acquire a 92.06% stake in Korbit exchange. There are also reports that Korea Investment & Securities is in talks with global exchange OKX to jointly acquire Coinone.

The valuation logic for crypto exchanges in the capital markets has changed. Exchanges are no longer just platforms that earn transaction fees; they have become core traffic gateways for distributing stablecoins, custody services, security tokens, and Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization products.

By holding exchange equity, banks and securities firms can indirectly obtain qualifications related to Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) while firmly controlling the platform's user base and liquidity. This equity battle is fundamentally a contest for control over digital financial front-end traffic and distribution channels.

Current Status of Korean Crypto Sub-Sectors

The partnership network clearly shows uneven development progress across different crypto sub-sectors. The asset custody sector has the most implemented projects, with several players having overcome regulatory hurdles and officially launched services. The Real World Asset tokenization and Security Token Offering (RWA/STO) sectors mostly remain at the signing or intention stage, awaiting supporting legislation. The stablecoin sector is also progressing slowly, with no company currently setting industry standards and leading the market.

The development barriers vary by sub-sector, and the strategies of different institutions also diverge. Some companies are collaborating with local allies, waiting for regulatory easing. Others are turning to more mature overseas markets to forge alternative paths. The following analysis details the bottlenecks and strategies of players in each sub-sector.

RWA/STO: Legislation Pending, Lack of Commercial Infrastructure is the Biggest Weakness

The domestic STO market in Korea is currently divided into two main camps: the alliance led by Korea Securities Information Corporation (KOSCOM) and the fractional investment alliance led by Shinhan Investment Securities. Mirae Asset Securities has taken a different path, bypassing the wait for local infrastructure and directly expanding into overseas markets.

KOSCOM, 76.6% owned by the Korea Exchange, is the operator of Korea's core financial network. Its positioning is to build neutral shared infrastructure for all securities firms. Instead of signing exclusive agreements with single issuers, it has onboarded 11 securities firms onto its platform, aiming to unify the technical standards for STO issuance and circulation and to interface with the centralized custody system of the Korea Securities Depository.

Shinhan Investment Securities has rapidly built its own STO ecosystem. It completed a proof-of-concept with Lambda 256 in 2022, jointly launched the integrated platform PULSE in 2024, and introduced a multi-platform account aggregation service in 2025. In 2025 alone, it participated as an account manager in 10 investment contract-type security token issuances and acquired a controlling stake in the OTC exchange NXT, establishing a channel from token issuance to circulation.

Mirae Asset Securities has completely circumvented local infrastructure, focusing entirely on overseas expansion. The company issued digital bonds in Hong Kong, obtained a Virtual Asset Retail License from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and plans to launch a smart trading system for local retail investors in June. In the US, it is the only Korean securities firm to join the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) Tokenization Working Group, collaborating with institutions like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock on global standard-setting. This strategic layout will provide it with compliance and negotiation advantages when connecting the future domestic STO system with global standards.

Stablecoins: Technology is Mature, Regulation is the Main Barrier

The stablecoin sector involves the most diverse range of participants, including credit card companies, exchanges, fintech companies, and infrastructure service providers, each leveraging their respective strengths to enter the market.

The Kakao Group is the largest camp. Kakao, KakaoBank, and Kakao Pay have formed a joint task force aiming to create a 'super wallet' encompassing stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and local currencies. The team's core advantage stems from the infrastructure capabilities accumulated over years of operating the Kaia public chain, which has already launched USDT and conducted real-world payment tests.

Shinhan Card is migrating its existing payment network to a blockchain platform. The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Solana in April of this year, but related technology development had already begun earlier: it previously completed a proof-of-concept with Solana, Visa, Mastercard, and Fireblocks, and is now conducting in-depth testing across six modules including wallets and smart contracts.

Due to regulatory delays regarding the Korean Won stablecoin, the exchange camp is prioritizing the USD stablecoin sector. Dunamu, in partnership with Naver Financial, is developing a Korean Won stablecoin business based on its proprietary GIWA blockchain. Bithumb has paused its Korean Won stablecoin efforts, first collaborating with Circle and WLF to build a USD stablecoin distribution network, while also negotiating with payment platform Toss for a joint Korean Won stablecoin issuance. However, overall progress remains slow.

Despite the frequent activities of various camps, they are all constrained by the same regulatory barrier. The Bank of Korea has proposed a 51% shareholding rule, requiring that the issuer of a Korean Won stablecoin must be a consortium where a bank holds a majority stake. Fintech companies have raised objections to this rule, and the ensuing debate has prevented the government from finalizing the issuance details. Once formal rules are established, the camp with the most extensive front-end traffic channels will likely dominate the market.

Asset Custody: Services Launched, but Institutional Capital Inflow Needed

Compared to other sub-sectors, the custody market structure is clearer. The four major custodians have all solidified their market positions by partnering with domestic and international financial and technology partners.

KODA was jointly founded by KB Kookmin Bank, crypto venture capital firm Hashed, and Haechi Labs. Subsequently, Hanwha Investment & Securities, IBK Capital, and Kyobo Securities acquired stakes. It has also signed an exclusive custodian insurance agreement with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, ensuring a robust risk control system.

KDAC is a custody institution dominated by traditional finance, with major shareholders including Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup Bank. Nonghyup Bank originally invested in another custodian, Kardo, and after the two entities merged, it officially became part of KDAC. Currently, two of Korea's top five banks are among its shareholders.

BDACS focuses on technology and ecosystem partnerships, collaborating with domestic and international institutions like Woori Bank, Galaxy, and GK8 to expand its custody and payment infrastructure. It also partnered with Circle to issue the Korean Won stablecoin KRW1 based on its Arc blockchain, which is currently undergoing a proof-of-concept. BDACS is also the designated Virtual Asset Service Provider and core custody partner for the KDX Alliance, led by the Korea Exchange (KRX), simultaneously advancing both its custody and payment businesses.

BitGo Korea entered the market leveraging its parent company's global technological strength. BitGo's parent company custodies over $70 billion in assets and handles approximately 20% of global Bitcoin on-chain transactions. Hana Financial Group and SK Telecom hold stakes in BitGo Korea, providing it with both financial and telecom capital backing.

Many financial institutions conduct business through these custodians, but sources indicate that the four major custodians were all operating at a loss last year. This suggests that the industry infrastructure has been built prematurely, but it has yet to attract the large-scale institutional capital needed to support its operations.

Looking at the current state of the STO, stablecoin, and custody sectors, a common issue emerges: while Korean local institutions have established a complete business framework, the underlying technology remains heavily dependent on overseas solutions.

The Rise of Local Infrastructure Service Providers

Long-term reliance on overseas technology creates structural risks. As the industry scales, a significant portion of revenue will flow overseas in the form of technology licensing fees. Furthermore, changes in policies or fee increases by overseas partners could expose domestic businesses to risks.

A deeper contradiction lies in the fact that scenarios like issuing Korean Won stablecoins, defining STO circulation rules, and onboarding local corporate accounts require deep alignment with Korean regulatory requirements and cannot directly apply global solutions. Therefore, once relevant legislation is enacted and large-scale capital enters the market, local technology companies capable of independently designing and controlling the underlying technology stack will become essential industry needs.

A group of local companies have already identified this technological gap and are focusing on developing Korea-specific financial infrastructure. Key players include:

LG CNS

Among traditional IT service providers, LG CNS has the most prominent strategy. The company launched its proprietary blockchain platform, Monachain, in 2018. Leveraging the local currency service of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation, it provides on-chain services to over 220 local governments, accumulating extensive operational experience.

Building on this technological foundation, LG CNS has secured projects related to the Bank of Korea's CBDC project, Hangang, and STOs. As the general contractor for the central bank's CBDC project, it is responsible for building a government subsidy distribution system based on deposit tokens, enabling institutional CBDC and private digital assets to operate on the same network, thereby fully migrating traditional financial security standards and processes to the blockchain.

Furthermore, the company has undertaken the development of STO platforms for KOSCOM and Mirae Asset Securities. Its business strategy focuses on three main areas: building token issuance and circulation platforms for banks, providing software services to credit card companies and payment institutions, and creating digital asset payment platforms for securities firms. Once regulations are implemented, LG CNS is expected to be a core winner in the local infrastructure market.

DSRV

DSRV is a leading blockchain infrastructure service provider, operating across more than 70 public chains, with over KRW 4 trillion (approximately $2.9 billion) in assets under custody. It is the largest Ethereum staker in Korea and ranks among the top ten globally.

The company has evolved from a pure node operator into a one-stop institutional on-chain infrastructure service provider. Its DSRV Portal allows financial institutions to use wallet, payment, asset tokenization, custody, and staking functions seamlessly through APIs and dashboards. Financial institutions do not need to build their own nodes and security systems to quickly launch services like personal wallets, institutional wallets, automated payments, token issuance/destruction/transfer/locking, asset custody, and staking.

The company has obtained certifications such as VASP, ISMS, and SOC 1 Type 1, directly addressing the core compliance, security, and risk management needs of financial institutions. It handles responsibilities like wallet security, internal controls, and operational risks that financial institutions prefer not to undertake.

Its partnerships primarily focus on cross-border and on-chain payment rails: collaborating with SBI Ripple Asia to develop compliant cross-border remittance infrastructure between Korea and Japan; working with Circle to build institutional-grade USDC issuance, redemption, and settlement systems independent of exchanges; and teaming up with BC Card to bridge traditional credit card networks with stablecoin payment channels. Recently, the company completed a KRW 30 billion (approximately $21.7 million) Series B funding round to accelerate technological development.

Altus (formerly B-Harvest)

Altus specializes in the interface layer between traditional financial legacy systems and blockchain. Founded in 2018, the team comprises over 40 engineers and researchers. It has been deeply involved in developing EVM-compatible public chains based on the Cosmos SDK, leading the creation of several commercial blockchains like Canto, Crescent, Stable, and Ault.

The company provides protocol development and underlying architecture design for Ault, an institutional-grade public chain focused on real-world assets, trading, and payments. It also performed EVM adaptation, performance optimization, and security audits for the Bitcoin staking chain Babylon, ensuring its successful launch.

For financial institutions, Altus builds solutions from the ground up tailored to industry needs: a cross-chain scheduling layer connecting legacy systems and blockchains, a real-world asset tokenization system, permissioned exchanges, stablecoin payment and settlement systems, and institutional wallet and custody infrastructure.

Two major R&D projects are currently underway: the Canton network architecture, which supports selective data disclosure between institutions, and the Commonware Stack, a modular blockchain framework targeting a throughput of 1 million transactions per second.

These three companies have distinct strengths: LG CNS relies on its reputation in traditional financial IT, DSRV on its node and staking infrastructure, and Altus on its custom underlying protocol expertise. However, their goal is remarkably consistent: to secure control over core underlying systems before the large-scale influx of institutional capital. Ultimately, the winner will be determined by the commercial implementation experience each accumulates before the market fully opens.

Retail Fades Out, Institutions Dominate the Market

The recent flurry of collaboration signings is not merely about business expansion; it represents a strategic positioning by institutions ahead of regulatory clarity, even an attempt to influence the final regulatory rules. In the current cooperation race, competing for market share is secondary; dominating the regulatory framework is the core objective.

In just six months, the landscape of the Korean crypto market has been completely reshaped: the custody camp has formed, STO alliances have proliferated, and large financial holding companies have aggressively acquired exchange equity. Concurrently, retail trading enthusiasm has cooled significantly, with total trading volume across Korea's five major exchanges dropping by approximately 48% year-on-year, accelerating the market's shift in focus from retail to institutions.

This market transformation has also rewritten the localization strategies of overseas Web3 public chain foundations. Cases like Shinhan Card partnering with Solana and Mirae Asset Securities teaming up with Avalanche are becoming more common. Overseas institutions are no longer relying on offline community events to attract retail investors but are instead focusing on connecting with local financial giants and large corporations. The traditional community engagement model has become ineffective.

Korea Blockchain Week (KBW 2026), to be held in Seoul this September, is likely to showcase the results of this industry transformation. Based on the