South Korea advances crypto access for 3,500 companies

South Korea has advanced a three-part digital-finance program covering crypto accounts for about 3,500 companies, legal recognition for tokenized securities, and deposit-token trials involving nine banks.

FACTBLOCK CEO and Korea Blockchain Week organizer Andrew Park said South Korea’s crypto market is moving away from its long reliance on retail trading as financial institutions focus on custody, tokenization, stablecoins, settlement systems and regulatory compliance.

The change covers three connected areas of financial activity. Corporate investors are preparing to enter the crypto market under Financial Services Commission rules, securities firms are building systems for tokenized assets, and the Bank of Korea is testing digital bank deposits that can carry programmable payment conditions.

South Korea prepares crypto accounts for 3,500 companies

Under a roadmap released by the Financial Services Commission in February 2025, South Korea planned to let about 2,500 listed companies and approximately 1,000 corporations registered as professional investors open real-name bank accounts linked to crypto exchanges.

Financial companies were excluded from the group, while access for the eligible corporations was designed as a controlled pilot rather than unrestricted participation.

Since 2017, Korean companies have been unable to trade virtual assets through local exchanges because banks have not provided the required real-name accounts. Although the restriction was not written as a direct statutory ban, the account rules effectively kept corporate money out of the market.

The FSC first opened limited account access to nonprofit organizations, universities, law-enforcement agencies, and crypto exchanges. Eligible institutions could sell virtual assets received through donations, criminal seizures, or exchange fees, but the first stage did not allow general investment.

Listed companies and registered professional investors formed the second group in the FSC’s roadmap because the regulator considered them better equipped to assess investment risk. Officials also cited corporate demand for blockchain businesses and digital-asset investments when choosing the pilot participants.

Subsequent guidelines considered an annual investment ceiling equal to 5% of a company’s equity capital Eligible purchases would be limited to the 20 largest cryptocurrencies by market value across South Korea’s five major exchanges, although regulators were still considering whether dollar-backed stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT should qualify

Corporate access also creates demand for regulated custody. On Aug. 18, BitGo Korea secured VASP registration from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, allowing the company to develop crypto custody and transfer services for institutions and businesses.

Hana Financial Group owns 25% of BitGo Korea, while SK Telecom holds 10%. BitGo has not disclosed a service launch date, supported assets, custody fees, or named clients.

Tokenized securities enter South Korean law

Alongside corporate crypto access, South Korea has established a legal route for issuing and trading tokenized securities.

The National Assembly passed amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and Capital Markets Act on Jan. 15, 2026. The measures were promulgated on Feb. 3 and are scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4, 2027, according to a legal summary from Kim & Chang.

Under the amended Electronic Securities Act, distributed ledgers can serve as legally recognized records for securities issuance. Issuers must follow registration procedures involving the Korea Securities Depository, rather than treating blockchain records as a separate and unregulated ownership system.

Changes to the Capital Markets Act also bring investment-contract securities and fractional investment products into the regulated market. Licensed intermediaries will be able to handle distribution, while over-the-counter trading will operate under rules prepared by financial authorities.

Infrastructure work has proceeded before the law takes effect. As crypto.news reported in May, Samsung SDS won a contract to turn the Korea Securities Depository’s test system into a production-ready token-securities platform.

KSD expects the system to connect distributed-ledger data with its existing electronic securities accounts. The planned functions include issuance records, circulation checks, rights management and real-time monitoring of token volumes, with completion expected by February 2027.

In August, Shinhan Bank and Plume also began an offshore proof of concept involving a won-denominated tokenized fund backed by ultra-short-term bonds. The test excludes Korean residents and will not issue or distribute tokens, but the companies are examining whitelist controls, know-your-customer checks, anti-money-laundering procedures, and onchain operations before the domestic law begins.

For U.S. readers, the Korean structure differs in administration but follows the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s position that putting a financial instrument on a blockchain does not remove it from securities law. In a January 2026 staff statement, the SEC divided tokenized securities into issuer-backed and third-party models and said market participants may still need registrations, proposals or regulatory relief.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce previously said “tokenized securities are still securities,” adding that distributors, buyers and trading platforms must consider federal disclosure and market rules. South Korea’s framework similarly places tokenized instruments inside its existing securities system, with KSD handling formal registration.

Project Hangang expands deposit-token testing

The Bank of Korea has developed a separate payment layer through Project Hangang, which combines wholesale central-bank money with deposit tokens issued by commercial banks.

Deposit tokens are digital versions of bank deposits rather than cryptocurrencies issued directly by the central bank to consumers. Participating banks issue the tokens to customers, while tokenized central-bank money settles transfers between the banks.

During Phase I, which began in April 2025, about 80,000 of the 100,000 invited users opened wallets. Participants completed approximately 118,000 payment transactions, although the total value remained below 700 million won.

In March 2026, the Bank of Korea launched Phase II with nine banks, adding BNK Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank to KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, NH Nonghyup, IBK Industrial Bank and BNK Busan Bank.

Phase II includes person-to-person transfers, biometric payment approval, and automatic conversion between ordinary deposits and deposit tokens. The central bank is also extending digital vouchers and testing programmable controls on government spending.

Electric-vehicle charging infrastructure grants and public-sector operating expenses are among the first public-payment uses. Payment conditions can restrict which recipient spends the funds, where the money is accepted, and how long it remains available, according to the Bank of Korea.

A separate 9.6 billion won, or roughly $6.9 million, deposit-token payment program began in July under the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the Ministry of Science and ICT. Nine banks, eight payment companies, and two major merchants joined the consortium led by the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute.

The program will connect deposit tokens with existing payment networks, allowing merchants to process transactions without replacing all their terminals. Participating agencies said the test would examine whether the system can lower processing fees for small businesses.

AI agents gain a programmable payment method

Project Hangang’s technical work has also covered payments initiated by AI agents.

LG CNS demonstrated an agentic payment service in January 2026 using deposit tokens on the Bank of Korea’s infrastructure. Under the model, an AI agent can search for a product or service, check user-defined conditions, and complete a payment through a tokenized bank deposit.

The Bank of Korea said it would continue studying deposit tokens as a payment method for AI-agent services and as settlement money for tokenized bonds and shares. Because payment conditions can be written into the system, a transaction can execute only after a specified action or market condition occurs.

At the European Central Bank Forum in July, Bank of Korea Governor Hyun Song Shin said “the big prize is tokenizing government bonds.” Shin described a unified ledger where tokenized bonds, commercial-bank deposit tokens, and wholesale central-bank money could operate on the same platform.

The central bank has also connected Project Hangang with the Bank for International Settlements’ Project Agorá. In 2026, South Korea completed tests linking its digital-currency system with the cross-border platform, including real-value transactions using tokenized central-bank reserves across six currencies.

Source: cryptonews.net