South Korea Advances 2027 Tokenized Securities Rules

South Korea has advanced plans for regulated tokenized securities, with detailed rules proposed ahead of a planned 4 February 2027 launch. The framework would allow stocks, bonds, funds, unlisted shares held through trusts and certain beneficiary securities to be issued and traded on distributed ledger technology. The latest proposal adds a public consultation from 3 October to 11 November and would establish a new OTC licence for tokenized debt securities. Issuers that directly manage customer accounts would need at least 4 billion Korean won, about $2.8 million, in equity capital, plus dedicated compliance, technology and cybersecurity capabilities. This is below the roughly 100 billion won capital requirement for traditional securities businesses. Retail investors would face a 30 million won, or 5% of an offering, limit per public issuance during the initial phase. For OTC trading, annual net purchases on each platform would be capped at 100 million won, or about $70,000. Licensed financial institutions could manage tokenized securities under existing licences, while larger allocations would be directed through institutional channels. The broader roadmap includes expanding eligible tokenized securities in the first phase, allowing all publicly offered securities in a later phase and eventually creating stablecoin-linked, on-chain settlement infrastructure. Later timelines remain undecided and depend on adoption, technology and stablecoin legislation. The tokenized securities framework could strengthen regulated real-world asset markets and institutional blockchain use over the long term, but near-term crypto trading impact is likely limited while consultation and approval continue.