Hanwha Investment & Securities has quietly completed a tokenized securities platform built to run on Avalanche, positioning the South Korean brokerage to move early when the country’s blockchain-based securities regime goes live in February 2027.
The development, reported Sunday by Seoul Economic Daily, marks one of the most concrete steps yet by a major Asian financial institution to prepare for regulated onchain securities — and it signals that public blockchains, not just permissioned enterprise networks, are being welcomed inside one of the world’s most tightly controlled capital markets.
## Built for more than one chain
Hanwha began developing the platform in 2025 together with blockchain technology firm FairSquare Lab, according to industry sources cited by the publication. Rather than betting on a single network, the system was designed from the start to operate across multiple distributed ledgers, including Avalanche and Hyperledger Besu, the Ethereum-compatible blockchain client built for enterprise deployments.
That multi-chain architecture reflects how South Korea’s institutional infrastructure is actually taking shape. The Korea Securities Depository (KSD) is preparing its own token securities infrastructure with published requirements covering Avalanche, Hyperledger Besu and Hyperledger Fabric — giving securities companies several blockchain options as they build systems for the incoming framework. The KSD would participate directly in the connected networks to oversee total issuance and electronic registration information, and participation would remain limited to approved institutions such as securities firms and the depository itself.
Demand from financial companies influenced the inclusion of Avalanche, according to Seoul Economic Daily. A KSD official told the publication that several firms had requested support through industry consultations and existing projects.
Avalanche’s appeal for institutions lies in its ability to host dedicated sub-networks where participants control validation and access — permissioned in practice, but built on public-chain technology that can interoperate with the broader ecosystem. Japanese institutions have already gone down this road: in July, Progmat, the tokenization platform backed by Japan’s major banks, moved its operations from Corda 5 to a dedicated Avalanche Layer 1, migrating more than 452 billion yen in underlying assets and making its securities compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine while retaining institutional controls.
## The regulatory runway
Hanwha’s timing is deliberate. Amendments to South Korea’s Electronic Securities Act and Capital Markets Act take effect on February 4, 2027, and will legally recognize distributed ledgers as securities registers, allowing tokenized securities to operate inside the country’s existing capital markets framework rather than in a regulatory gray zone.
The Financial Services Commission has laid out a phased approach. Initially, tokenization will be limited to certain funds, bonds, unlisted stocks and fractional securities. Firms must demonstrate operational stability comparable to the existing electronic securities system. Existing financial investment companies will not need a separate license to handle tokenized securities falling within their current licensed business areas, though intermediating over-the-counter tokenized transactions will require prior consultation with the Financial Supervisory Service.
Retail participation is being kept on a short leash. The FSC has proposed capping individual subscriptions to non-monetary trust beneficiary certificates at the lower of 30 million won or 5% of total issuance, with annual net purchases by retail investors on each OTC exchange capped at 100 million won.
Parallel public infrastructure is also in motion: Samsung SDS has been developing a token securities platform for the KSD designed to connect blockchain records with the country’s existing electronic securities account infrastructure, supporting issuance, circulation checks, rights management and monitoring when the system begins operating.
## A broader tokenization bet
The platform is the latest move in a multi-year campaign by Hanwha to build positions across the tokenization stack. The group became Securitize’s largest shareholder after holdings spread across three affiliated entities reached a combined 9.6% of the company — 15.69 million shares held through a Hanwha Asset Management private equity fund (5.9%), H Foundation at Hanwha Systems (3.1%), and Hanwha Investment & Securities itself (roughly 0.6%) — putting the conglomerate ahead of Blockchain Capital and Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo.
Securitize provides tokenized asset infrastructure for BlackRock, Apollo, BNY, Hamilton Lane, KKR and VanEck, managed more than $4 billion in onchain assets and supported more than 650 tokenized funds earlier this year. It went public on the NYSE under the ticker SECZ in July, issuing blockchain-based versions of its common shares on Solana and Avalanche on the same day.
Hanwha has also invested in blockchain research firm Xangle, Web3 infrastructure provider Kresus, and in July disclosed a 30 billion won (roughly $22.3 million) investment in Digital Asset, the operator of the institutional-focused Canton Network. Domestically, the brokerage deepened its crypto exposure with an additional 597.8 billion won in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, raising its stake to 9.84%.
With the platform built, the rules finalized and the depository’s infrastructure in progress, the remaining question is which assets Hanwha tokenizes first. As of September 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC, Bitcoin traded at $79,397 (down 0.64% in 24 hours), Ethereum at $2,488.55 (down 0.51%) and Solana at $104.82 (down 1.52%), per CoinGecko — a market that remains range-bound while institutional plumbing like this gets quietly put in place.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
hanwha shipping a completed platform 17 months before the feb 2027 rules even land. korea does not mess around when it commits to this stuff
and fairsquare built it multi-chain from day one so hanwha is not locked in if KSD shifts requirements. quietly smart architecture
built multi-chain from day one is the detail everyone skips. if KSD tightens the rules in 2027 hanwha can reroute without a rewrite, thats the whole ballgame
this. they started building with fairsquare in 2025 before KSD even hinted at its requirements list. brokers that wait for the final rulebook get the leftover volume while early movers like hanwha take the Feb 2027 window
building two years ahead of the rulebook is the whole moat. by feb 2027 half the brokerages will still be hiring consultants to read the KSD requirements
dont forget the article mentions japanese institutions eyeing avax subnets too. hanwha finishing now means they can sell the same rails regionally, korea first then the neighbors
^ leftover volume is exactly right. KSD will grandfather whoever clears integration first and every brokerage knows it
grandfathering assumes KSD lets early finishers skip the queue. more likely they rerun everyone through the same feb 2027 tests, hanwha just breaks less because they already stress tested
hanwha shipping a finished tokenized securities platform on avalanche before the 2027 rules even land. korea is not playing
institutional rails on avax while retail argues about memecoins. this is where the actual volume ends up
february 2027 sounds far until you remember KSD integration testing takes months. hanwha finishing now means they front-run every rival brokerage at launch
front-running rivals assumes KSD actually clears them first. testing in feb 2027 still leaves a mile of paperwork before a single security settles on those rails
KSD listing Avalanche next to Hyperledger Besu and Fabric in its requirements is the real signal. A public chain approved inside a regulated capital market.
KSD naming avax right next to besu and fabric is the whole signal. regulators dont put public chains on approved lists by accident
approved next to besu and fabric is exactly it. those are permissioned chains, avax being the only public one on that KSD list is the actual headline
exactly, permissioned chains were always the regulator comfort blanket. if KSD actually clears avax for settlement the precedent travels way past korea
people sleep on what the KSD requirements list means. once a public chain is approved for securities settlement anywhere, copycat approvals across asia get way easier
every major brokerage announcing tokenized securities rails and avax still gets treated like a joke token in replies. these builds take years, this is year one
quietly is the word. hanwha shipped a finished platform with no fanfare while rivals publish partnership MOUs every quarter
quietly is right, i only found this through a ksd requirements doc. says everything about who the platform is actually built for
17 months of lead time and a finished platform. half the rival brokerages will still be reading ksd requirements docs while hanwha clears trades
the quietly part is very hanwha. seoul economic daily scooped it, no press release, no CT victory thread. korean institutional builds skip the hype cycle entirely
korea putting a public chain inside a regulated securities market while the west still argues if public chains are allowed at all. that split decides where this gets built
feb 2027 KSD integration testing is the real deadline. hanwha finishing 17 months early means they get to break things in staging while rivals are still reading the requirements doc
staging breaks are free, production breaks in feb 2027 are not. thats the whole hanwha bet and honestly i respect it
Hanwha started with fairsquare in 2025 while everyone else waited for the rulebook. 17 months early means the Feb 2027 KSD testing window is theirs to fail safely in