South Korea's financial regulators have published a roadmap to bring tokenization to the country's entire capital market, from private bonds to publicly listed stocks, with stablecoin settlement as the end goal.

BREAKING: 🇰🇷 South Korea just unveiled a 3-stage plan to bring $5.36 trillion worth of stocks, bonds, and funds onchain, starting February 2027. pic.twitter.com/U7Y5yY9tKr

— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) September 4, 2026

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced the plan on Friday following the third meeting of a consultative body on tokenized securities. The country already has 11.3 million verified crypto users and a stock market with daily trading volumes that rival crypto exchanges, a combination that has made South Korea one of the most closely watched jurisdictions for merging traditional finance with blockchain infrastructure.

Key Points

• The FSC has laid out a three-stage plan to tokenize all securities, including stocks, bonds, and funds.
• Phase one begins February 4, 2027, covering money market funds, corporate bonds, and unlisted shares for institutional investors.
• Phase two expands tokenization to all publicly offered securities, provided phase one proves stable.
• Phase three introduces onchain stablecoin settlement infrastructure.
• Existing licensed firms can handle tokenized securities without needing an additional license.

Phase One Starts February 2027

The first stage begins when South Korea's amended Electronic Registration Act takes effect on February 4, 2027. This law legally recognizes blockchain-based securities, giving tokenized instruments the same legal standing as conventional registered securities — a prerequisite that has held back tokenization pilots in jurisdictions without equivalent legislation.

Under phase one, private money market funds and private corporate bonds for institutional investors will be tokenized first. Unlisted shares will also be tokenized through a trust structure, meaning the underlying shares remain on the existing system while investors receive a tokenized trust-beneficiary security. Starting with institutional-grade, privately placed instruments is a deliberately conservative sequencing: it limits initial exposure to sophisticated investors before retail-facing assets are brought onchain.

Retail investors on over-the-counter exchanges will face an annual net purchase limit of 100 million won, around $74,000, per venue. Individual subscriptions are capped at 30 million won, around $22,000, or 5% of the total issuance volume, whichever is lower.

Stablecoin Settlement Is the Final Goal

If phase one runs smoothly, phase two will open tokenization to all publicly offered securities. The timing of phases two and three depends on how phase one performs and on pending stablecoin legislation.

Phase three, the final stage, establishes an onchain payment infrastructure that would allow investors to settle tokenized securities using stablecoins, replacing the multi-day conventional settlement cycle with onchain delivery.

The FSC pointed to BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized fund and Hong Kong's tokenized green bonds as reference points for the program — two of the most frequently cited live examples of institutional tokenization outside South Korea.

Non-bank issuers that want to run investor accounts for their own token securities must hold at least 4 billion won, around $3 million, in equity capital and employ dedicated compliance and IT staff.

Existing licensed brokerages and trading firms will not need an additional license to handle tokenized securities, a choice designed to let incumbent financial institutions participate from day one rather than ring-fencing tokenization to new entrants. Over-the-counter exchanges must consult the FSS before operating.

The FSC said it plans to introduce proposals to revise subsidiary legislation by the end of September, which will be the first concrete signal of how the detailed rules — including custody, disclosure, and exchange operations — will work in practice.

South Korea's move comes as Japan announced plans last week for a national blockchain settlement system for stocks and government bonds, targeting the early 2030s. Singapore also finalized its stablecoin licensing framework this week. Together, the three announcements mark one of the densest stretches of tokenization and digital-asset rulemaking among major Asian financial centers to date.

The FSC said its ultimate goal is to completely transform capital market infrastructure for digital connectivity.

Source: CoinCentral