South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top financial regulator, has laid out a three-stage plan to tokenize stocks, bonds, and funds on a blockchain. The initiative would open a new set of trading options for the country at the same time its memory-chip exports are posting record numbers. It also places South Korea among a growing group of jurisdictions — including Switzerland and Hong Kong, which have already run tokenized bond and securities pilots — racing to set rules for blockchain-based finance.

How South Korea plans to tokenize stocks, bonds and funds

The FSC published its roadmap following the third meeting of a public-private consultative body on tokenized securities, held at the Korea Securities Depository in Seoul. The plan builds infrastructure applicable to what the regulator called "all types" of securities, going beyond the fractional-investment products that the earlier framework focused on.

The first phase begins when the amended securities law takes effect on February 4, 2027. Securities to be tokenized at that stage include privately placed money-market funds and corporate bonds for institutional investors, unlisted stocks issued through a trust structure, and publicly offered fractional-investment securities.

The second phase will expand the system to cover all publicly offered securities, while the third and final phase aims to build a settlement system directly on the blockchain, allowing investors to settle tokenized trades using stablecoins. The stablecoin settlement element links the roadmap to broader legislative work in Seoul on won-based stablecoins, which lawmakers have debated as a way to keep Korean payment activity onshore.

The FSC has also set rules to protect investors and guide companies. Existing securities firms are permitted to handle tokenized securities under their current licenses and do not need a new one — an approach intended to let incumbent brokerages enter the market quickly rather than forcing new entrants to build from scratch. Retail investors using over-the-counter (OTC) venues will face an annual net-purchase limit of 100 million won (about $74,000) per exchange.

For new fractional products, the subscription limit is 30 million won (about $22,000) or 5% of a deal's total size, whichever is smaller. Non-bank issuers must hold 4 billion won (roughly $3 million) in equity capital and employ dedicated staff to manage accounts, ensure compliance, and run IT systems.

Why South Korea is tokenizing securities now

The move comes as South Korea pushes to modernize its capital markets and create more ways for companies and investors to raise and deploy money, with the economy receiving a major boost from its semiconductor industry.

The country's two largest memory-chip makers, Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930) and SK Hynix (KRX: 000660), are world leaders and key pillars in the AI data center build-out in the U.S. South Korea's semiconductor exports jumped 167.7% in May 2026 from a year earlier.

The Bank of Korea has also pushed back on the "chip peak" argument, saying the growth cycle is far from over. It argued that AI infrastructure spending is outrunning supply, and noted that the current expansion, which began in March 2023, has lasted 40 months — already 11 months beyond the average of the five cycles recorded between 2000 and 2020.

South Korea's lead, however, is not uncontested. China's largest DRAM maker, CXMT, has begun small-scale production of fifth-generation HBM3E for AI accelerators and aims to ramp up output next year. SemiAnalysis estimated that CXMT's overall yield on prior-generation eight-layer HBM3 sits at roughly 25%, while Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are already mass-producing sixth-generation HBM4 — a full generation ahead.

Despite its development lag, U.S. export limits on advanced chips have handed CXMT a captive domestic market. Its first-half revenue rose 874% from a year earlier to 150.3 billion yuan ($22.4 billion).

Separately, Goldman Sachs projects that Chinese toolmakers will hold 38% of China's wafer-fab equipment market by 2028, up from 26% in 2025, while Korea's chip-equipment localization rate sits near 20%.

For readers tracking what comes next: the immediate milestone to watch is legislative progress on the amendments ahead of the February 4, 2027 effective date, followed by which securities firms move first once tokenized products become eligible. In the chip sector, CXMT's HBM3E ramp and any shift in U.S. export rules will shape how durable South Korea's memory lead remains.