Hanwha Investment & Securities, the brokerage division of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, has officially launched its tokenized securities platform, delivering a considerable boost to the Avalanche blockchain’s AVAX token.
AVAX price climbs after Hanwha platform debut
Following the announcement, AVAX traded near $8.06, representing a 5.24% increase in the past 24 hours. Its market capitalization reached $3.48 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The surge reflects increasing market optimism around Avalanche’s integration into traditional finance infrastructure.
Avalanche confirmed the news, emphasizing its role in bringing conventional capital market assets onto blockchain networks. The platform launch positions AVAX at the heart of South Korea’s accelerating tokenization efforts.
Avalanche highlighted how the new system places the network “at the center of bringing traditional assets into global onchain markets.”
Hanwha’s platform and blockchain integration
Hanwha’s tokenized securities platform has been in development since 2025, with blockchain development led by FairSquare Lab. The system leverages Avalanche’s public blockchain together with Hyperledger Besu, an enterprise blockchain widely adopted within South Korea’s financial sector.
Tokenized securities record financial instruments, such as stocks and bonds, on distributed ledgers. This allows for enhanced transparency, ease of transfer, and improved efficiency in financial transactions.
Specifics regarding public access to Hanwha’s platform have not been released. However, the integration of Avalanche and Hyperledger Besu marks a significant collaboration between public and private blockchain solutions.
Mini dictionary: Hyperledger Besu is an open-source Ethereum client designed for both enterprise and public permissioned or permissionless networks, supporting advanced smart contract functionality and interoperability within the blockchain ecosystem.
Regulatory momentum in South Korea
South Korea’s National Assembly has amended national laws to officially recognize distributed ledgers as legal securities registers. The reforms, finalized in January, will take effect from February 4, 2027, through updates to the Electronic Securities Act and Capital Markets Act. These changes set the stage for large-scale adoption of tokenized securities in the country.
The Financial Services Commission, South Korea’s leading financial regulator, has planned a three-phase rollout to integrate blockchain into the existing financial system. The first phase targets privately placed money-market funds, institutional corporate bonds, unlisted stocks via trust structures, and publicly offered fractional investment securities. Later phases will include all publicly offered securities and establish on-chain settlement using stablecoins.
| Rollout Phase | Key Assets Covered | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Money-market funds, institutional bonds, unlisted stocks, fractional securities | Initial rollout |
| Phase 2 | All public securities | Subsequent stage |
| Phase 3 | On-chain settlement with stablecoins | Final stage |
The Korea Securities Depository, the central securities depository for South Korea, is building its own infrastructure to support these legal and technical updates. This system will interface with Avalanche, Hyperledger Besu, and Hyperledger Fabric. Officials revealed Avalanche’s selection was influenced by demand from participants in the tokenized securities working group.
Mini dictionary: Korea Securities Depository is South Korea’s central securities depository, responsible for the safekeeping and settlement of securities as well as supporting capital market infrastructure.
Hanwha Group’s broader tokenization strategy
Hanwha Group, a major player in South Korea’s finance, manufacturing, and services sectors, has been steadily increasing its exposure to digital asset technologies. Across three affiliates, Hanwha has acquired a 9.6% equity stake in Securitize, making it the top shareholder in the leading tokenization firm.
In July, Hanwha Investment & Securities invested 30 billion Korean won, approximately $22.3 million, into Digital Asset, the company behind Canton Network, a blockchain interoperability project.
Hanwha Group CEO Byung-ho Jang has outlined plans to reposition the brokerage as a digital asset-focused institution. The vision is to enable end-to-end real-world asset tokenization, offering issuance, custody, and trading capabilities on blockchain infrastructure.
Hanwha executives are positioning the group as a leading digital-asset broker with a mission to transform real-world assets into digital tokens, with all key services processed on-chain in real time.
