South Korea has unveiled a three-stage roadmap for integrating tokenized securities into its regulated capital markets, beginning when new legislation takes effect on February 4, 2027. The plan starts with selected securities before expanding toward broader tokenization and, eventually, stablecoin-linked on-chain settlement, according to the Financial Services Commission’s September 4 policy announcement. FSC tokenized securities policy announcement.
The framework follows amendments to South Korea’s electronic securities and capital markets legislation approved earlier this year. The new legal structure formally recognizes distributed-ledger-based securities while keeping them within existing securities regulation, rather than creating a separate asset class outside traditional capital-market rules.
Tokenized Securities Begin With Limited 2027 Rollout
Phase one will begin alongside the law on February 4 and focus on institutional private money-market funds, privately placed institutional bonds, trust-based tokenization of unlisted shares and publicly offered fractional-investment securities. South Korea is deliberately starting with instruments that regulators consider easier to integrate into existing ownership and settlement systems.
A second phase would extend the infrastructure toward publicly offered securities after regulators assess the stability, efficiency and market demand generated by the initial rollout. There is no fixed date for this expansion, with the FSC making progression conditional on operating experience and technological readiness.
The third stage targets fully on-chain payment and settlement using instruments such as stablecoins. That phase remains dependent on separate stablecoin legislation and interoperability between securities ledgers and payment networks, meaning it represents a longer-term objective rather than functionality scheduled for February 2027.
FSC Sets Infrastructure and Capital Requirements
The Korea Securities Depository will play a central role in connecting distributed-ledger infrastructure with South Korea’s existing electronic registration system. Securities firms and other participants will need systems capable of linking their blockchain infrastructure with KSD records while maintaining standards comparable with the existing securities framework.
Existing licensed financial firms will generally be able to handle tokenized securities within the scope of their current authorizations. New issuer account management institutions, however, will face additional requirements. The FSC plans to require KRW 4 billion in equity capital, specialist compliance and IT personnel, and strict technology and security controls for entities managing their own tokenized-security accounts.
Subordinate regulations covering eligible securities, trading limits and registration requirements are scheduled to be proposed by the end of September 2026. The immediate priority is therefore building the legal and technical infrastructure needed for the first-stage launch, rather than moving the entire securities market on-chain at once.
South Korea’s roadmap ultimately treats tokenization as an extension of conventional capital markets rather than a parallel crypto market. Its phased structure allows regulators to test blockchain-based issuance and trading before progressing toward public securities and stablecoin settlement, making operational stability and investor protection the gates for broader adoption.
