Hana Securities, the brokerage unit of South Korea’s Hana Financial Group, said on September 14 that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Upbit Global to cooperate on digital asset and finance businesses, using Singapore as a base, according to Seoul Economic Daily. The two firms plan to move from developing investment models to designing products and making joint investments.
Expanding Digital Asset Finance
The agreement was signed on September 11 at Hana Securities’ headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Upbit Global is a Singapore-based holding company that oversees Upbit’s overseas digital asset operations, while Hana Securities contributes its finance and asset management capabilities. The cooperation areas cover developing digital asset investment business models, designing related products and services, building infrastructure and systems, and joint investments. Both companies already run operations in Singapore: Hana Securities operates Hana Asset Management Asia, while Upbit Global conducts its overseas business primarily from the city-state. The companies said specific business approaches will be decided in stages depending on regulations and market conditions.
Preparing for Tokenized Securities
Hana Securities is also preparing digital asset businesses tied to South Korea’s move to institutionalize security token offerings, following the country’s roadmap to tokenize securities. The firm plans to build related infrastructure, including an issuance platform, in stages so that traditional financial products such as stocks, bonds and funds can be issued and traded in tokenized form. Chief Executive Kang Sung-mook said the company will build the issuance platform “in line with the pace of STO legalization” and “actively prepare for the STO market to take off in earnest next year,” as reported by Seoul Economic Daily.
What the Partnership Signals
The tie-up is part of a broader push by Asian financial institutions to enter tokenized markets through partnerships rather than building proprietary rails, a trend reflected in deals such as Alpha Ladder’s xStocks tokenized equities for institutional investors. For Hana Securities, aligning with a major exchange gives it a distribution and technology partner as regulators finalize tokenized-securities rules, while Upbit Global gains a route into traditional brokerage and wealth management. Both firms said cooperation will expand within the scope of the licenses and networks each already holds, leaving the pace of any launch dependent on South Korea’s legislative timeline.
