South Korea Aims for Onchain Capital Markets Powered by Avalanche

South Korea has announced plans to bring its entire capital markets infrastructure online by 2027, powered by Avalanche. The Financial Services Commission and Korea Securities Depository have laid out a three-phase policy direction covering stocks, bonds, and funds, from issuance through trading, clearing, settlement, and investor rights. According to Boston Consulting Group, the resulting market is projected to reach ₩367 trillion by 2030, equivalent to approximately $250 billion.

Avalanche has been actively building its presence in Korea, with several institutional players already using its platform. POSCO International tokenized real trade receivables on Intain's Avalanche-based Layer 1, while Mirae Asset Global Investments signed an MOU with Ava Labs to explore tokenized funds. NHN KCP is building a payment-dedicated chain on AvaCloud, and Danal Fintech is developing a compliant stablecoin L1 through AvaCloud.

The three-phase plan begins on February 4, 2027, when privately placed money market funds and corporate bonds become eligible for tokenization. The regulator has declined to create a separate license for tokenized securities, instead allowing firms with existing financial investment business licenses to handle them within their existing permissions.

Phase two extends tokenization to all publicly offered securities, subject to technical feasibility, while phase three adds onchain settlement using stablecoins. However, the settlement leg remains uncertain and depends on secondary virtual asset legislation Korea has not yet passed.