Shinhan Asset Management, one of South Korea's largest asset managers and an affiliate of the Shinhan Financial Group, is piloting a Korean won-denominated tokenized fund on the Solana blockchain as South Korea prepares to introduce rules for tokenized securities. The pilot targets overseas institutional investors and covers the product's issuance and on-chain distribution processes.

On August 21, the asset manager signed a four-party memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation, tokenization infrastructure provider Etherfuse, and decentralized exchange Orca, which is built on Solana. Under the arrangement, the proposed investment product would be backed by an ultra-short-term Korean won bond fund. Shinhan manages that underlying portfolio and will provide its asset-management experience to the project.

Solana announced the collaboration in a post on X:

BREAKING: Korea's Shinhan Asset Management is building a KRW tokenized fund on Solana, modeled on BlackRock's BUIDL

The four-party MOU with Solana Foundation, @etherfuse and @orca_so targets a tokenized RWA market at $36B today, projected by BCG to reach as much as $30 trillion… pic.twitter.com/XWnbGclYIB

— Solana (@solana), August 21, 2026 (view post)

According to the post, the four-party agreement targets a tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market that stands at $36 billion today and that Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has projected could reach as much as $30 trillion.

How the Pilot Will Work

The proof of concept will review the complete tokenization process, including investor onboarding, issuance of the fund, and distribution on-chain. Participants will also analyze the procedure for putting a regulated investment instrument on-chain, which will include KYC, AML, and blockchain procedures.

A foreign exchange requirement will be another area of assessment, and the group will also analyze the design of on-chain liquidity on Solana.

Each partner brings a distinct role. While Shinhan contributes regulatory expertise alongside its investment expertise, Etherfuse will provide the infrastructure required for the tokenization process of the fund. Orca's efforts will be concentrated around the liquidity structure for the proposed asset, and its work will facilitate the intended on-chain distribution of the product.

The agreement does not mark a public launch or investor offering. The parties have not disclosed the fund's size, expected returns, or launch date.

How the Fund Compares With BlackRock's BUIDL

For now, the project remains limited to testing and infrastructure preparation. Shinhan will determine the securities that can be used within the forthcoming legal framework in South Korea, and tests will be ongoing as the country sets up its tokenized securities system. Issuance and distribution should be conducted in compliance with regulations.

The model has drawn comparisons to BlackRock's BUIDL, which distributes conventional financial instruments via blockchain technology infrastructure. BUIDL launched in March 2024 and has become one of the largest tokenized funds, and Franklin Templeton also runs an on-chain U.S. government money fund, making money-market-style products one of the most developed segments of institutional tokenization. The portfolios, however, consist of different underlying instruments: the BUIDL program is centered around tokens tied to US Treasuries, while the approach developed by Shinhan uses Korean won-denominated short-term bonds. Ultra-short-term bond funds of that kind hold low-duration debt comparable to the money-market portfolios behind other tokenized funds, which places Shinhan's pilot in the same product category even though its underlying assets are won-based.

Parallel Tests on Solana and Plume

The collaboration with Solana is one of the initiatives under Shinhan's assessment of blockchain-based infrastructure. On August 14, the asset manager signed a separate tokenized fund deal with Plume, another pilot involving a Korean won-denominated tokenized investment fund.

The two projects operate separately, allowing Shinhan to test various technical solutions prior to the tokenized securities launch in South Korea. Together, they show that the company is testing different blockchain and distribution models and has not committed its future products to a single network.

South Korea's amended regulations are likely to take effect in early 2027. The framework builds on the Financial Services Commission's stated position that tokenized securities fall under existing capital-markets rules and on planned amendments to the country's Electronic Securities Act. Regulators are preparing market infrastructure and investor-protection measures before the planned rollout, and the new system may offer a clear path to regulated tokenization for asset managers. Until then, Shinhan will continue its technical preparations with Solana and other partners.