South Korea's Financial Services Commission has rolled out a three-phase plan to bring securities tokenization to the mainstream. Starting February 2027, authorities will allow the issuance of tokenized private money market funds, corporate bonds, and certain OTC stocks. Once the core infrastructure is up and running, regulators plan to expand tokenization to publicly traded securities.

Three-Phase Rollout

The first phase kicks off in February 2027, covering a limited set of assets: private money market funds, corporate bonds, and some OTC stocks. In the second phase, tokenization infrastructure will open up to public securities. The third phase will see a shift to on-chain settlements, including using stablecoins for transactions.

Market Players and Licensing

Existing brokers won’t need a separate license to handle tokenized securities—the regulator is keeping the current framework in place. This move should make it easier for traditional players to jump into the new infrastructure without extra red tape.

Retail Investor Limits

Retail investors trading on OTC platforms will face an annual net purchase cap of 100 million won. The cap is designed to keep the rollout controlled and help manage early-stage risks as tokenized products hit the market.