Plume and Shinhan Put The Korean Won To The Tokenization Test

A Korean Financial Giant Enters the Tokenization Arena

Shinhan Asset Management has signed a memorandum of understanding with Plume Network (@plumenetwork) to develop a proof of concept (PoC) for a Korean Won-denominated tokenized investment fund. Plume is a real-world asset focused Layer-1 blockchain, while Shinhan Asset Management is part of Shinhan Financial Group, one of South Korea's largest banking conglomerates.

The fund will be backed by short-term Won bonds, with pilot operations set to run in a separate jurisdiction outside South Korea. Shinhan's KRW ultra-short-term bond funds will serve as the underlying assets, with Plume testing the tokenization, distribution, and compliance infrastructure required for offshore markets.

Most tokenized fund products globally have been dollar-denominated, reflecting the greenback's dominance in capital markets. A Won-denominated product would serve Korean institutional investors who want exposure to tokenized fixed income without taking on currency risk.

Benchmarking BlackRock and Testing Compliance Rails

According to the press release, both companies will benchmark BlackRock's BUIDL model during the demonstration. BUIDL is the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, a tokenized money market fund launched in March 2024 with Securitize as transfer agent. As of May 2026, BUIDL holds approximately $2.5 billion in assets under management across six chains, making it one of the largest tokenized US Treasury products available.

The PoC will specifically test KYC, AML, and whitelist-based transfer restrictions, mirroring the compliance controls that have underpinned BUIDL's institutional adoption. It is worth noting that the project does not involve actual fund issuance or distribution at this stage. The key variable to watch is whether this moves beyond the MOU stage into actual fund deployment, though the specificity of the agreement, naming the asset type, denomination, and offshore jurisdiction structure, suggests both parties have moved past the exploratory phase.

The Plume deal is part of a broader push by Shinhan into digital asset infrastructure. In July 2026, Shinhan Financial Group signed a separate MOU with Digital Asset, the enterprise blockchain firm, focused on tokenization and digital asset management for Korean securities.

Sources:
Plume signs MOU with Shinhan Asset Management for KRW-denominated tokenized fund - Crypto Briefing
BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) Surpasses $1B in AUM - PR Newswire