The South Korean National Assembly is preparing to take an important step towards the legalization of tokenized securities (Security Tokens, ST).
The bill, which is expected to pass after the election, has caused great activity in the financial sector. The country’s leading financial institutions are rapidly establishing collaborations and continuing technical infrastructure preparations in order to be pioneers in this new market.
Tokenized securities are known as digital securities supported by blockchain technology. Thanks to the security and ease of transaction offered by this technology, it is possible to divide low-liquid assets such as real estate, works of art, and even live animals into small shares and offer them to investors.
Currently, tokenized securities remain in a gray area due to a lack of regulation. However, both main candidates running in the presidential election, Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo, have made it clear in their campaign promises that tokenized securities will be legalized quickly, making the bill’s passage almost certain.
The fact that tokenized securities are both based on real assets and have the status of a security has led to a serious consensus among political parties in this area. This makes it easier for the law to pass. According to industry representatives, this digital asset class is seen as “the safest innovation.”
With the passing of the law, an increase in tokenized investment products based on familiar assets such as real estate is expected in the short term. In the long term, it is predicted that the market structure will change radically as traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds, become tokenized.
These blockchain-based digital securities promise to lower transaction costs by reducing dependence on centralized intermediary institutions, while enabling automatic transactions powered by artificial intelligence thanks to their programmability.
*This is not investment advice.