Rialo Expands Blockchain Push with South Korean Financial Institutions

Rialo is accelerating its efforts to become a blockchain infrastructure provider for financial institutions, with a strong focus on South Korea. The network is currently in discussions with several Korean firms about proof of concept projects as these institutions explore expanding their financial services onchain. Rialo is developing applications with other institutional partners, emphasizing features like external API connectivity, interoperability, and privacy tools designed to integrate seamlessly with existing financial systems.

Bobby Zagotta, Rialo's chief business officer, highlighted the growing interest from traditional financial institutions in blockchain technology. He emphasized the need for blockchains that institutions can use without significant operational hurdles. Rialo aims to simplify blockchain adoption by supporting connections to external systems, interoperability, and privacy tools within its infrastructure.

Rialo was introduced by Subzero Labs in August 2025 after raising $20 million in funding led by Pantera Capital. The network is designed to reduce dependence on separate bridges, oracles, and middleware by incorporating native web connectivity and event-driven transactions. Rialo's approach centers on allowing institutions to use blockchain infrastructure without rebuilding their existing systems around the technology.

Rialo is targeting real world assets (RWA) lending and AI agents as potential use cases. For RWA lending, Rialo could allow assets held across different environments to be considered as collateral while bringing external information into the application through APIs. For AI agents, Rialo is developing a system called Latch, which controls what an AI agent can do when transacting on a user’s behalf.

Rialo is holding back its native token launch until working business models have been established. Zagotta mentioned that the team has a specific idea for the token's role but wants to prioritize developing functional applications and business activity before announcing token plans. Rialo is working with Cboe and other institutions on various applications, with details of its token plans expected only after evaluating the growth potential of these business models.