Symphony, the Web3 division of Singapore-based brokerage and wealth management group PhillipCapital, is expanding into Central Asia with Kazakhstan as its first overseas market. The company is positioning tokenization and digital assets as potential tools for meeting demand for cross-border investment products.

Symphony’s Kazakhstan unit has received license approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) to operate as a digital-asset intermediary and arrange transactions involving tokenized securities. The authorization remains subject to final permissions before the business can begin serving clients.

The AFSA oversees activities within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), a financial hub in Kazakhstan’s capital that operates under a legal framework based on English common law. Symphony’s immediate objective is to establish its local operations and use Kazakhstan as a base for offering regulated digital-asset and tokenized investment services across Central Asia. The distinction between license approval and final permission means that regulatory clearance and the launch of local operations remain the immediate milestones for the expansion.

Kazakhstan selected as regional entry point

Symphony CEO Seh Huan Kiat said his view of Kazakhstan changed substantially after his first visit to Astana two years ago. He was particularly impressed by the widespread use of digital payments and by the seriousness with which local regulators and financial institutions were approaching digital assets and tokenization.

Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong are already established digital-asset centers. However, Symphony sees potentially stronger practical applications for tokenization in markets where investors encounter greater obstacles when transferring funds internationally or accessing foreign investment products.

Kazakhstan was selected in part because PhillipCapital already has business relationships in the country and elsewhere in Central Asia. Symphony expects those existing connections to support distribution and the development of financial products designed for regional demand.

The AIFC has also identified opportunities to deepen financial ties between Singapore and Kazakhstan in fintech, digital assets, tokenization, capital markets and financial infrastructure. Cooperation in these areas could give international companies access to Central Asian markets while bringing foreign expertise, investment and new financial services to the region.

The AFSA, AIFC Authority and Monetary Authority of Singapore have cooperated on fintech since 2018, when the three organizations signed an agreement intended to strengthen ties between Singapore and Kazakhstan.

Stablecoins and tokenized funds

Symphony was established in 2024 to separate PhillipCapital’s digital-asset operations from its traditional financial business. The company initially focused on cryptocurrencies before expanding its work to include blockchain applications for conventional investment products.

Money-market funds are among the products under consideration. These funds generally invest in short-term debt instruments and provide returns on cash. Tokenization could enable investors holding stablecoins to gain exposure to such products without first converting their digital assets through the traditional banking system.

Symphony considers Central Asia potentially well suited to this model because of the region’s substantial use of USDT in remittance activity. The company believes regulated tokenized money-market funds could give stablecoin holders an opportunity to earn investment returns rather than leave their digital assets unused.

The proposed structure would connect stablecoin liquidity with regulated traditional investments and could allow users to move from digital assets into yield-generating products more efficiently.

Phillip Securities, with Symphony serving as its technology partner, launched a tokenized money-market fund in 2025. The underlying fund has more than $800 million in assets under management. The structure also includes market-making on a licensed digital-asset exchange, giving investors access to secondary-market liquidity instead of requiring them to rely solely on the traditional fund redemption process, which can take several days.

Potential applications for real-world assets

Symphony is examining additional real-world assets that could potentially be tokenized through its Kazakhstan operation or PhillipCapital’s distribution network. Kazakhstan’s resource-rich economy could create opportunities involving real estate, financial instruments, metals, minerals and other commodities.

The company nevertheless intends to focus on practical applications rather than tokenizing assets solely because blockchain technology makes it possible. Symphony sees limited advantages in tokenizing assets such as conventional equities when existing financial markets already offer relatively rapid settlement.

Over time, the firm aims to give digital-asset investors access to PhillipCapital’s broader range of investment products across global markets. For now, Symphony’s priority is to establish a stable operating platform in Kazakhstan and build a strong customer base before expanding into additional tokenized assets and investment services.

The Kazakhstan expansion could eventually serve as a regional distribution hub for PhillipCapital’s digital investment products, connecting Central Asian investors with regulated global markets through blockchain-based infrastructure. The immediate progress of that plan will depend on final permissions, the start of client operations and Symphony’s ability to build the customer base it has identified as a priority.

Source: CoinTrust