Korea Investment & Securities Becomes Coinone's Third-Largest Shareholder, Begins Building STO Issuance Platform [Crypto Briefing]

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\r\n[Financial News] Korea Investment & Securities has acquired about a 20% stake in virtual asset exchange Coinone and formed a shareholder alliance with global exchange OKX and Com2uS Holdings. The company plans to build a comprehensive asset platform spanning virtual assets and security token offerings (STO) through partnerships with specialized firms in each field. It is also accelerating infrastructure development ahead of the law's implementation early next year, including work on its own STO issuance platform.
On the morning of the 4th, Korea Investment & Securities held a joint press briefing with Coinone, OKX and Com2uS Holdings at Coinone's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, and announced stronger partnerships to build a next-generation digital finance ecosystem.
Earlier, Korea Investment & Securities agreed to acquire a total of 159,610 shares, including 68,894 existing shares held by Com2uS Holdings and 90,716 newly issued shares. The investment is estimated at around 80 billion won, and the post-acquisition stake will be about 20%. Korea Investment & Securities will become a joint third-largest shareholder, behind Coinone CEO Cha Myung-hoon, who holds 30.36%, and Com2uS Holdings, which holds 24.54%. OKX will also join as a joint third-largest shareholder with a roughly 20% stake.
At the briefing, Korea Investment & Securities Chairman Kim Sung-hwan explained why the firm chose Coinone as a partner, saying, "We highly valued its unmatched security record with no incidents since its founding and its proven blockchain infrastructure." He added, "This investment is not a simple financial investment, but a strategic investment to secure a hub that connects regulated finance and the virtual asset market."
Industry watchers say the investment is expected to help Korea Investment & Securities secure a new growth engine over the medium to long term. In a recent analysis report, S&P Global Ratings said the impact of Korea Investment & Securities' Coinone stake on its risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio would be limited. It noted that the deal is unlikely to generate significant profits in the short term, but could become a foundation for securing an early lead in the digital asset market. The report added that under the recently revised Act on Electronic Registration of Stocks and Bonds and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, securities firms will be able to issue and distribute token securities starting next year, creating a strategic cooperation structure in which virtual asset exchanges support distribution.
In response, Korea Investment & Securities has sent a request for proposal (RFP) to major market participants for the construction of its own STO issuance platform system. The platform aims to build an integrated issuance system that includes conventional securities such as bonds and money market funds (MMF). This is a preemptive move following the FSC's launch of a step-by-step roadmap for tokenizing existing securities and enabling on-chain settlement. The FSC plans to announce revisions to subordinate regulations and guidelines related to security token offerings in July. The revisions are expected to include measures allowing fractional investing securities to be issued by bundling the same type of underlying assets within a certain range, as well as flexible limits on retail investor trading at over-the-counter exchanges. Korea Investment & Securities is currently participating in the KDX Consortium, an operator of an over-the-counter exchange for fractional investing.
Korea Investment & Securities plans to combine its traditional financial compliance capabilities with Coinone to strengthen internal control systems, while also targeting the global digital asset market through the launch of innovative financial products using token securities and links to stablecoin.
A Korea Investment & Securities official said, "We are pushing ahead with building an STO issuance platform." The official added, "We are preparing by separating issuance and distribution infrastructure, using our own platform for issuance and the KDX Consortium for distribution."
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elikim@fnnews.com Kim Mi-hee Reporter