U.S. Stocks, MMFs, and Deposits Move On-Chain... Korea Needs Urgent Rights and Settlement Infrastructure [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] In the United States financial market, tokenization is spreading across stocks, money market funds (MMFs), and bank deposits. Competition is also shifting from product issuance to operating infrastructure that connects custody, transfer-agent functions, and dividend and voting-rights management. With the Security Token Offering (STO) regime set to take effect in February next year, Korea is being urged to establish a step-by-step roadmap that links standardized securities and on-chain settlement, while also institutionalizing non-standard assets.
According to foreign media and industry sources on the 6th, Dinari, a U.S. tokenized securities infrastructure company, has launched trading services for 724 tokenized stocks, including all constituents of the S&P 500, for U.S. investors who meet the service requirements.
Dinari's 'dShares' uses a custodial structure in which the underlying shares corresponding to the tokens are held by a qualified custodian. The company said it designed the product so that dividends, voting rights, and corporate-action-related rights from the underlying shares can be linked to token holders. Investors can buy and sell tokenized stocks with USD Coin (USDC) from self-custody wallets and receive dividends in USDC as well. However, the product is not protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Price gaps between the underlying shares and the tokens, limited liquidity, and operational risks in custody and settlement were also listed as investment considerations.
BlackRock has added an Ethereum-based on-chain share class to an existing MMF and introduced a new tokenized MMF for institutional investors in the digital asset sector. BNY and Securitize will handle transfer-agent and tokenization-related tasks, respectively.
Both funds invest in cash, short-term U.S. Treasuries, and repurchase agreements backed by U.S. Treasuries. They preserve the existing MMF operating structure while linking the recording and transfer of investor interests to blockchain.
In the banking sector, Wells Fargo plans to launch tokenized deposit services in U.S. dollars and British pounds for selected corporate clients later this year. The service is designed to allow funds to move between accounts or across borders around the clock and to enable payments based on pre-set conditions.
Tokenized deposits are not securities, but they can be connected to the cash settlement rails for tokenized securities. Even if securities rights are transferred on a distributed ledger, the benefits of 24-hour trading and faster settlement are limited if trade proceeds and dividend payments remain tied to bank operating hours.
While the United States is advancing tokenization of securities and building cash settlement infrastructure at the same time, Korea is still at the stage of designing detailed rules and infrastructure ahead of the law's implementation.
The FSC plans to prepare a step-by-step roadmap for tokenizing standardized securities such as stocks, bonds, and MMFs, as well as for on-chain settlement, through a public-private tokenized securities council. It also intends to push tests covering the full process of securities rights, trading, and settlement, along with improvements to related infrastructure.
The revisions to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and the Act on Electronic Registration of Stocks and Bonds, passed by the National Assembly in January, will take effect in February next year. The FSC is working on subordinate regulations covering eligibility requirements for underlying assets, disclosure standards, and the scope of allowing pooled issuance of the same type of assets.
Domestic institutionalization is centered on investment contract securities and trust beneficiary securities backed by non-standard assets such as real estate, ships, content-based revenue rights, and patent royalties. By contrast, the United States is simultaneously tokenizing existing stocks and MMFs while linking the transfer and settlement functions of bank deposits to blockchain.
Follow-up legislation is still needed to improve the issuance structure for non-standard assets. Industry sources are also calling for additional revisions to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act so that fractional-investment operators can use trust structures without first purchasing the underlying assets.
An official from the financial investment industry said, "The competitiveness of tokenized securities depends less on the number of listed products than on whether the rights and cash flows of the underlying securities can be transferred to investors in a stable manner." The official added, "Korea also needs to connect custody, transfer-agent functions, rights management, and settlement step by step."
[email protected] Kim Mi-hee Reporter