Digital Asset LABMarket Structure Research
KOREA TOKENISED SECURITIES MARKET MAP
A market that ran in the sandbox first and wrote the law afterwards. The amendments passed in January 2026, but they are expected to take effect only around January 2027.
01 · STATUS
“Approved,” “rule effective,” and “live in production” are different states. This site keeps them separate.
Six platforms have been operating under innovative-financial-service designations — real estate, music royalties, loan receivables, aircraft engines. Kasa from December 2019, Musicow from September 2022, Galaxia Money Tree from April 2024. All of them use beneficiary certificates over a non-monetary trust.
The FSC decided to handle security tokens inside the existing Capital Markets Act, stating that “security tokens are subject to the Capital Markets Act”. It does not create a new kind of security; it treats tokenisation as a new form of issuing existing ones.
On 15 January 2026 the National Assembly passed amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act. They place a distributed-ledger mechanism for recording issuance and circulation inside the Electronic Securities Act, and let securities firms distribute investment contract securities. The FSC states they take effect one year after promulgation — tentatively January 2027.
On 13 February 2026 the FSC granted preliminary authorisation to two applicants — the NXT Consortium and KDX — to broker beneficiary certificates off-exchange. Lucent Block was not authorised. The NXT Consortium's authorisation is conditional: if the Fair Trade Commission opens an administrative investigation, the full-authorisation review is suspended. Both must apply for full authorisation within six months.
Preliminary authorisation is not permission to trade. The FSC states that business begins only once full authorisation is finally approved. As at the date of our check, no announcement of full authorisation had been found.
The FSC restricts the same operator from running a distribution platform for securities it has issued, underwritten or arranged. A small licence category for arranging beneficiary certificates sits on the issuance side; off-exchange brokerage sits separately on the distribution side.
02 · OWNERSHIP
Using the SEC’s January 2026 taxonomy as the anchor, classification follows legal structure and authoritative ownership records—not the appearance of the token.
The FSC defines these as securities whose issuance and circulation information is recorded and managed using distributed ledger technology, describing them in 2023 as the digitalisation of Capital Markets Act securities. Unlike the U.S. exemptive order or the EU's time-limited regime, Korea placed them inside the existing law.
This structure was chosen because an existing trust can split the interest. The February 2025 draft enforcement decree was intended to move the structure out of the sandbox and into the ordinary regime.
There has in practice been no way to trade these; the January 2026 amendment lets securities firms distribute them. It is not yet in force.
03 · TRADING ROUTES
Ownership model and trading venue are separate axes. The rules and settlement path differ by route.
Six platforms designated as innovative financial services operate over real estate, music royalties, loan receivables and aircraft engines. This is what is actually running today.
A venue for multilateral trading of beneficiary certificates. Two applicants received preliminary authorisation in February 2026. KDX's largest shareholders are Kiwoom Securities, Kyobo Life and KakaoPay Securities, with Heungkuk Securities and the Korea Exchange above 5%. Nextrade is the largest shareholder of the NXT Consortium, with Musicow, Shinhan Investment, Hana Securities and others above 5%.
04 · REALITY CHECK
24/7 trading, instant settlement, self-custody and fractional buying are the four things most often promised. None of them apply uniformly across the models.
Important caveat: Both keep tokenisation inside existing securities law rather than creating a new kind of security.
Important caveat: When a report says simply “approved”, it is worth checking which of the two it means.
05 · ECOSYSTEM
This is not a regulator-approved company list. It maps roles that firms have publicly disclosed or filed, with sources.
Sets the framework and grants authorisations. Both the 2023 regulatory plan and the 2026 preliminary authorisations were FSC decisions.
Korea's first alternative trading system operator; the largest shareholder of the NXT Consortium, which holds preliminary authorisation for an off-exchange venue.
Kiwoom Securities, Kyobo Life and KakaoPay Securities are its largest shareholders, with the Korea Exchange above 5%. Its preliminary authorisation carries no condition.
A fractional investment platform over music royalty streams, designated in September 2022. It also holds more than 5% of the NXT Consortium.
A real-estate fractional investment platform, designated in December 2019 — the earliest of the six.
A real-estate fractional investment platform designated in April 2021. It did not receive preliminary authorisation for an off-exchange venue.
06 · LICENCES
Registration, effectiveness of a filing, approval and exemption are different concepts. “The SEC is involved” does not mean the same thing in each case.
CautionAs at September 2026 no announcement of full authorisation had been found.
CautionInvestor-protection requirements remain at the level applied to conventional securities.
CautionIt may not also run the distribution platform for securities it issued, underwrote or arranged.
06 · REGULATION
Statutes, SEC orders, SRO filings, no-action letters, staff views and company plans are not given the same legal weight.
Fractional investment in real estate was permitted as a regulatory exception. Korean practice starts here.
Permitted within the Capital Markets Act: accepted as a form of electronic security, with issuer account management institutions and a new off-exchange brokerage licence.
A draft enforcement decree and rules, creating a brokerage category for beneficiary certificates and separating issuance from distribution.
The amendments introduce security tokens and allow investment contract securities to be distributed. They are expected to take effect one year after promulgation, around January 2027.
The NXT Consortium (conditionally) and KDX. They must apply for full authorisation within six months, and only full authorisation permits trading.
07 · SOURCES
SEC, DTCC/DTC, NYSE/ICE and Nasdaq are prioritized. Company materials are clearly identified as company sources.
Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea · 2023-02-06 · Primary source
Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea · 2026-01-15 · Primary source
Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea · 2026-02-13 · Primary source
Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea · 2025-02-03 · Primary source
Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea · 2025-11 · Primary source
KOREA WAVE / AFPBB News · 2026-09-22 · Commentary — not a primary source
08 · METHODOLOGY
First identify what the investor legally holds, then identify the trading route, and finally verify the authoritative source and operating status. The word “tokenized” alone does not determine shareholder rights, counterparty risk or settlement cycle.