According to reports from crypto.news and BigGo Finance, Plume and Shinhan Asset Management signed a memorandum of understanding on August 14 to test a KRW-denominated tokenized fund backed by one of Shinhan's short-term Won bond funds. The project represents a proof of concept only that will test technical and compliance requirements needed to move the fund structure onchain. The companies plan to benchmark BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized fund model while using Shinhan's KRW short-term bond fund as the underlying asset, with no actual issuance or distribution involved. As reported by crypto.news, the decision to test this in a jurisdiction outside South Korea is telling, as Korean regulators have been moving toward clearer digital asset frameworks but the pace has been cautious enough that institutions often look offshore for initial pilots. The deal pairs a crypto-native infrastructure provider with one of Korea's heavyweight financial institutions, with Shinhan Asset Management being part of Shinhan Financial Group, one of the country's largest banking conglomerates.
As reported by crypto.news and BigGo Finance, the project will run through an isolated structure in a third jurisdiction that blocks Korean residents contractually and technically. The South Korean security token amendments passed in January and take effect on February 4, 2027. The amendments will allow blockchain based distributed ledgers to serve as legally recognized securities registries while keeping tokenized securities subject to existing securities rules. The Financial Services Commission has formed a public private consultative body to work on issuance, circulation, technology, payment and settlement standards before implementation. This project specifically aims to explore the feasibility of bringing KRW-denominated investment products to offshore markets via tokenized infrastructure before South Korea's new token securities law takes effect in 2027. Shinhan CEO Lee Seok-won emphasized that this is a technical validation phase that does not presuppose issuance or distribution, with the company designing a structure that contractually and technically blocks acquisition by domestic residents while proceeding in close communication with regulatory authorities.
According to crypto.news and BigGo Finance, Plume's U.S. regulatory infrastructure comes through Kimber Transfer Agency, which filed its SEC transfer agent registration in August 2025 and was accepted in September 2025. Plume has described Kimber as the transfer agent arm supporting official ownership records for tokenized securities. The company joined DTCC's tokenization working group alongside major financial firms in August, advising on operating standards around DTC's tokenization service planned for October 2026 launch. Plume has been positioning itself as the go-to Layer-1 for real-world asset tokenization, with the network being EVM-compatible and permissionless, which means it can tap into Ethereum's existing developer ecosystem while specializing in the RWA vertical. Plume's SEC-registered transfer agent license and DTCC working group experience are assets that could inform the regulatory compliance design of won-denominated tokenized products.
As reported by crypto.news and BigGo Finance, Shinhan CEO Lee Seok-won described the trial as "fundamentally not intended for actual issuance or distribution," with Korean residents excluded from the structure. The next milestones will include technical tests around whitelisting, KYC, AML and offshore operating controls. Lee Seok-won emphasized that "Dollar-based assets have led on-chain settlement and liquidity infrastructure, but we now need to lay the groundwork for attracting overseas capital into South Korea by leveraging won-based stablecoins and tokenized securities." The choice to denominate the fund in Korean Won rather than US dollars is significant, as most tokenized fund products globally have been dollar-denominated, reflecting the greenback's dominance in capital markets. A Won-denominated product would serve Korean institutional and potentially retail investors who want exposure to tokenized fixed income without taking on currency risk. For Shinhan, this isn't an isolated foray into digital assets - in July 2026, Shinhan Financial Group signed a separate MOU with Digital Asset focused on tokenization and digital asset management for Korean securities, with the Plume partnership adding an international dimension to those ambitions. Chris Yin, CEO of Plume Network, noted that "while the RWA tokenization market has grown primarily around dollar-denominated assets, demand for global market integration is also expanding," highlighting the potential for regulatory-compliant won-denominated assets.
