South Korea to Publish Tokenized‑Securities Rules in July 2024

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission will publish detailed tokenized‑securities rules in July, paving the way for blockchain‑based securities to enter the capital‑markets framework by February 4, 2027.

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index sits around 2,620 points, up about 1.3 % year‑to‑date, while Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) holds a market capitalization of roughly $360 billion. These figures show the scale of the domestic equity market that tokenization could eventually touch. Tokenized securities are digital tokens that represent ownership of stocks, bonds or funds and are recorded on a blockchain ledger instead of a traditional central registry.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced it will release the detailed rule set for tokenized securities in July 2024. FSC Vice Chairman Kwon Dae‑young said the July announcement aims to institutionalize tokenized securities in South Korea. The rules are expected to cover tokenized stocks, bonds, money‑market funds, over‑the‑counter trading limits and fractional investment products that pool similar assets.

For market participants, the July draft will clarify compliance requirements, forcing brokerages, exchanges, custodians and settlement providers to upgrade systems and allocate budgets. Early pilots, such as the Bank of Korea’s tokenized‑deposit project and the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s April 2024 trial using tokenized deposits for government spending, hint at growing demand. Analysts estimate that if even 5 % of the KOSPI’s $1.6 trillion market cap were tokenized, the resulting digital‑asset pool could approach $80 billion.