Ondo Finance partners with Kakaopay Securities to tokenize South Korean stocks for global investors.

Ondo Finance, which operates what it claims to be the world's largest tokenized equity platform, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kakaopay Securities to facilitate the international distribution of Korean-listed stocks. The agreement was signed on September 28 at the Kakaopay Securities headquarters in Pangyo and was announced during Korea Blockchain Week. Senior executives from both sides attended the signing ceremony, including Kakaopay Securities Executive Vice President Chung Inyoung and Ondo Finance Managing Director Matthieu de Vergnes, who oversees the company’s global institutional business.

This partnership reflects the growing interest of international investors in Korean companies. For a long time, overseas retail investors have had difficulty accessing the Korean stock market through traditional channels. According to the memorandum of understanding, both parties agreed to collaborate in three areas: building a global distribution framework for Korean-listed stocks, jointly researching the tokenization infrastructure necessary to support the distribution, and establishing dedicated working groups to explore business opportunities targeting overseas retail investors.

The initial phase of the partnership will focus on identifying and custodying Korean-listed stocks that could serve as the basis for future tokenized products. Kakaopay Securities will operate an integrated account for foreign investors responsible for sourcing, custody, and management of these stocks. At the same time, both parties will collaborate on a technical level to research token issuance and redemption processes, as well as balance management and reconciliation mechanisms.

From Infrastructure Research to Commercialization Decisions

The companies noted that whether and when tokenized equity products can actually be launched will depend on the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks, supervisory guidance, and investor protection principles both domestically and internationally. Commercialization is still a topic for future discussion and not a foregone conclusion.

The leadership of both companies described the collaboration as a complementary fusion of strengths. Chung Inyoung of Kakaopay Securities emphasized that while global demand for investment in Korean companies is growing rapidly, overseas retail investors still face limited access channels, so their goal is to turn international distribution of Korean stocks into a viable service. De Vergnes of Ondo remarked that Korea is one of the world's most advanced digital asset markets and a key region for bringing tokenized stocks and other real-world assets into financial services that consumers already use and trust.

This partnership also marks a broader strategic direction in Korea’s tokenization development, with Ondo declaring that the agreement opens a new chapter for the industry. As a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding, the two sides plan to establish a joint working group later this year to develop an operational framework for stock sourcing and custody and to advance research on tokenized equity infrastructure.