Kakao Pay Securities is partnering with two global tokenized finance firms to build a framework for distributing Korean-listed stocks overseas. The move puts flesh on the brokerage's earlier plan to widen access for foreign investors to Korean equities, extending it into stock tokenization.
Kakao Pay Securities said on the 29th that it had signed memorandums of understanding with Ondo Finance and Dinari on the overseas distribution and tokenization of Korean-listed stocks. The company plans to form joint task forces with both firms this year to examine how to source underlying shares and how tokens would be issued and redeemed.
Under the basic structure, Kakao Pay Securities would use omnibus accounts — pooled accounts for foreign investors — to source and hold underlying shares of Korean-listed stocks, then create tokens backed by those shares for distribution abroad. The study will also cover balance reconciliation between shares and tokens, issuance and redemption procedures, and how shareholder rights such as dividends and voting would be reflected.
With Ondo Finance, the brokerage will jointly study ways to tap the firm's global distribution network and tokenization infrastructure. Ondo Finance has distributed real-world assets, including U.S. Treasuries, as blockchain-based tokens, and now runs Ondo Stocks, which tokenizes U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds. Total value locked in Ondo Stocks passed $1 billion in May.
The work with Dinari will focus on a proof of concept to verify technical feasibility. Dinari operates dShares, tokenized securities issued one-for-one against U.S. stocks and ETFs. Underlying shares are held through a U.S.-registered broker-dealer, with matching tokens issued against them. The two firms plan to examine whether the same approach can be applied to Korean underlying shares, issuing and redeeming tokens on a one-for-one basis.
The partnerships extend the overseas strategy Kakao Pay Securities outlined at a press briefing in July. At the time, Shin Ho-chul, chief executive of Kakao Pay Securities, said the company would build a global gateway for Korean stocks with U.S.-based Siebert Financial, allowing American retail investors to trade them. The two companies signed an MOU in May and have been studying the tokenization of Korean stocks and the possibility of 24-hour trading within the U.S. regulatory framework to narrow the time-zone gap between the two markets.
Any actual rollout, however, will require a review of regulations at home and abroad, the policy direction of supervisory authorities and investor protection standards. Other key tasks include clarifying the relationship of rights between underlying shares and tokens, defining the issuance and redemption structure, and determining how shareholder rights such as dividends and voting would be reflected. "Starting from trading in underlying shares, we will steadily verify technical feasibility through a proof of concept for stock tokenization, and open a path for shares of Korea's leading companies to connect with broader markets," said Chung In-young, vice president of Kakao Pay Securities.
