Kakaopay partners with Dinari and Ondo to explore onchain Korean stocks for global markets

South Korean brokerage Kakaopay Securities has entered into partnerships with tokenization firms Dinari and Ondo Finance to investigate the possibility of bringing Korean-listed stocks onchain and offering them to investors in international markets.

Partnership details and scope

Kakaopay announced on Tuesday that it has signed separate agreements with Dinari and Ondo. The collaborations will cover sourcing underlying Korean shares, building tokenization infrastructure, and evaluating their potential distribution outside of South Korea.

As part of the arrangement with Dinari, the two companies will launch a proof of concept to apply Dinari’s dShares tokenization model to Korean equities. The dShares framework is intended to maintain essential shareholder rights, including dividend entitlement and voting.

Dinari, based in the US, currently offers 724 tokenized US stocks and ETFs through dShares. With the new partnership, Kakaopay and Dinari are considering whether the model can be extended to Korean-listed stocks as the underlying assets.

Dinari CEO Gabe Otte explained that the proof of concept does not yet include any specific Korean companies and there is currently no published timeline for commercial rollout. According to Otte, the model would utilize actual shares listed on the Korean market as the underlying assets, rather than tokens merely tracking stock prices.

Dinari CEO Gabe Otte emphasized that the initiative focuses on using locally listed Korean shares as the fundamental assets instead of issuing tokens that only follow their price movements.

Under the partnership with Ondo Finance, Kakaopay will first work to create a framework for sourcing and holding Korean equities before tokenization. This would include managing an omnibus account for foreign investors, used to custody and administer the underlying shares.

The firms will jointly research token issuance and redemption mechanisms. However, both Kakaopay and Ondo stated that plans to commercialize tokenized Korean equities will hinge on regulatory approvals and legal considerations in both South Korea and external markets.

Mini dictionary: Omnibus account, an account held by a broker or custodian that combines the securities of multiple clients, typically used for streamlined management and to facilitate foreign investment.

Regulatory landscape in South Korea

The initiatives come as South Korea advances regulatory preparations for tokenized securities. In January, the National Assembly approved amendments to securities regulations, now recognizing distributed ledger technology as a legitimate format for securities registries and allowing for the issuance and circulation of tokenized securities.

The Financial Services Commission in June indicated that development of token securities infrastructure will be part of a broader effort to modernize South Korea’s capital markets. The new regulatory framework is expected to take effect in February 2027. Meanwhile, the Korea Securities Depository is building systems to connect its securities account infrastructure to blockchain-based networks.

Global trend for tokenized stocks

Gabe Otte commented on the growing interest in tokenized stocks, noting that no conclusion has been reached yet about the scale of demand in South Korea.

Data from RWA.xyz show that tokenized stocks reached approximately $3.2 billion in total distributed value as of September 2026. The bulk of market activity is concentrated in tokenized versions of US corporations and exchange-traded funds, such as shares in Nvidia, Tesla, Circle, and Strategy, as well as major US stock ETFs.

In summary, Kakaopay Securities and its partners are positioning South Korea to potentially join an expanding international market for tokenized stocks, contingent on regulatory developments.