Top South Korean Firm selects Avalanche for tokenization

Hanwha Builds Avalanche-Backed Platform Ahead of 2027 Deadline

Hanwha Investment and Securities, a major brokerage within the $200 billion Hanwha conglomerate, has completed development of a tokenized securities platform built on @Avax, positioning itself ahead of a sweeping regulatory shift in South Korean capital markets.

According to a report from Seoul Economic Daily, Hanwha started building the platform in 2025 with blockchain technology firm FairSquare Lab. The platform, called the Digital Asset Platform (DAP), will run on Avalanche and initially target high-net-worth individuals and family offices with access to private-market assets, including hedge funds, private credit, real estate, intellectual property, and unlisted shares.

Hanwha went further than peers by adopting Avalanche, which carries a public blockchain ecosystem open to any participant and allows institutions to set up separate, restricted networks with controlled validators. The Korea Securities Depository is also preparing infrastructure capable of connecting with Avalanche, Hyperledger Besu, and Hyperledger Fabric, giving securities firms several blockchain options as they build systems for the incoming framework.

South Korea's Regulatory Push Sets the Stage

South Korea has passed amendments that legally recognize blockchain-based securities, set to take effect on February 4, 2027, and the Financial Services Commission has established a three-step plan to build out the infrastructure. The changes will legally recognize distributed ledgers as securities registers and allow tokenized securities to operate within the country's existing capital markets framework.

The FSC has laid out a three-stage roadmap for implementing the incoming rules. Beginning when the new laws take effect in February, tokenization will be permitted for privately placed money market funds and bonds, fractional investment securities, and unlisted stocks structured through a trust wrapper. If the initial rollout proves successful, the regulator plans to expand the framework to all publicly offered securities.

Hanwha-affiliated entities have also built a significant position in Securitize, a tokenization platform used by financial institutions including BlackRock, Apollo, BNY, KKR, and VanEck. Separately, POSCO International, the trade and investment arm of one of the world's largest steel producers, conducted a tokenized trade receivables pilot on Avalanche in August 2026, further signaling the growing institutional appetite for the network within South Korea.

The move by Hanwha underscores a broader effort by Korean financial institutions to get ahead of a regulatory curve that is reshaping one of Asia's largest capital markets.

Sources:
The Block: South Korea's Hanwha develops tokenized securities platform on Avalanche
Seoul Economic Daily: Hanwha Securities Builds Avalanche-Based Token Securities Platform
The Block: South Korea to start tokenizing all types of securities in three stages from 2027