Rialo Targets South Korean Banks in Push for Institutional Crypto Adoption

Rialo, a blockchain platform developed by former Sui engineers, is actively courting South Korean banks as it positions itself as the preferred infrastructure for traditional financial institutions. The company's executives revealed that they are already in discussions with several South Korean firms about potential proof-of-concept projects, highlighting the growing institutional interest in blockchain technology.

Bobby Zagotta, Rialo's chief business officer, emphasized the importance of designing blockchain networks that are accessible to financial institutions. He noted that existing blockchain infrastructure is often too complex for integration into daily operations. Rialo aims to address this by offering a network that supports external system connections, interoperability, and privacy tools natively, eliminating the need for institutions to rely on third-party services.

The network was launched by Subzero Labs in August 2025 following a $20 million funding round led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Hashed, Mysten Labs, and Variant. Zagotta, who has extensive experience at CME, Kraken, and Bitstamp, joined Rialo as an adviser before becoming a formal member of the team about 10 months ago.

Rialo's core philosophy is to make blockchain technology as user-friendly as Web2 services. The network's features include Rialo Edge, which pulls data from external APIs into blockchain applications, and IPC, a system that allows applications to use information without publicly exposing sensitive data onchain. This approach is particularly useful for financial institutions that need to verify customer information without compromising privacy.

Subzero Labs is also developing Latch, a system designed to control AI agents' activities on behalf of users. This system allows users to set permissions for AI agents, including the parties they can transact with, the amount they can spend, and the duration of their authority. Unlike many blockchain projects, Rialo is deliberately holding back on launching a token, preferring to establish working applications and business activity before introducing tokenomics.

South Korea has become a key market for Rialo, with financial institutions in the country showing a strong willingness to expand into onchain services. Rialo is engaging in discussions with potential partners to test how the network can fit into institutional applications. The broader institutional onchain movement includes players like Paxos and Ondo Finance, which are also accelerating efforts to bring financial services onchain.