Plume Network, a blockchain platform focused on bringing real-world assets onchain, and Shinhan Asset Management, part of Korea's Shinhan Financial Group, have signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a proof of concept for a South Korean won-denominated tokenized fund, marking an effort to bring non-dollar institutional assets into blockchain-based capital markets.

The initiative will use a fund tied to KRW ultra-short-term bonds as the underlying asset and will examine the technical and regulatory requirements needed to bring such a product onchain. The project is strictly limited to technical verification and will not involve actual issuance or distribution.

To comply with domestic regulatory boundaries, the test will be carried out within an isolated structure in a third jurisdiction, with both contractual and technical barriers designed to prevent participation by Korean residents.

The proof of concept is intended to benchmark BlackRock's tokenized fund framework, commonly known as its BUIDL model, and represents the first attempt to apply that type of institutional structure to a won-denominated asset. BlackRock launched BUIDL in March 2024 as a tokenized U.S. dollar liquidity fund for institutional investors, showing how a conventional fund structure can operate with blockchain-based recordkeeping and transfer controls.

Participants will assess the full lifecycle of a tokenized fund, including onchain operational architecture, whitelist-based transfer restrictions, and integrated customer identification and anti-money laundering protocols. The effort comes as onchain capital markets have grown to more than $300 billion in stablecoin balances, but remain heavily concentrated in dollar-denominated instruments and see limited use of Korean won assets.

Plume and Shinhan Asset Management, Korea's leading asset manager with KRW 133.6 trillion in AUM, have signed an MOU to develop a proof of concept for a KRW-denominated tokenized fund, with Won ultra-short-term bonds as the underlying. The POC will test the process of bringing… pic.twitter.com/xPTbzIAba8 — Plume (@plumenetwork) August 13, 2026

Plume and Shinhan Asset Management, Korea's leading asset manager with KRW 133.6 trillion in AUM, have signed an MOU to develop a proof of concept for a KRW-denominated tokenized fund, with Won ultra-short-term bonds as the underlying. The POC will test the process of bringing… pic.twitter.com/xPTbzIAba8

Building institutional infrastructure ahead of regulatory clarity

For Shinhan Asset Management, the collaboration is a strategic effort to apply institutional-grade infrastructure standards to won-denominated instruments and to build capabilities for tokenized financial products in advance.

The asset manager said the current phase is strictly preparatory, and that any future issuance or distribution would depend on compliance with relevant statutes and formal regulatory confirmation procedures. Because South Korea's domestic tokenized security framework is not yet operational, the work will remain limited to technical validation and infrastructure readiness until formal domestic systems are introduced. South Korean financial authorities have indicated that tokenized securities would be governed by existing capital markets law, though the systems required to administer them domestically have not been finalized.

Plume brings regulatory credentials to the partnership, including a United States Securities and Exchange Commission-registered transfer agent license and participation in the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's Digital Assets Solutions Industry Working Group alongside Nasdaq, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan. The working group is focused on establishing industry standards for tokenized services ahead of expected market launches.

By combining Plume's onchain technical infrastructure with Shinhan's asset management expertise, the two parties aim to develop a compliant pathway for connecting high-quality won-denominated assets to global investors while addressing the current imbalance in onchain currency representation. Their long-term objective is to create mechanisms that could eventually channel overseas capital into domestic markets through regulated, won-based digital instruments.