[Digital Today reporter Sang-yeop Oh] U.S. blockchain infrastructure company Digital Asset is expanding cooperation with South Korean financial firms including Shinhan Financial Group and Hanwha Investment & Securities.

Yuval Rooz (유발 루즈), co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, met South Korean reporters on Tuesday and said South Korea was a very interesting market for moving traditional finance onchain. He stressed cooperation with local financial companies.

The most concrete cooperation is with Shinhan Financial. Shinhan Financial signed an MOU in June with the Canton Foundation to participate in network governance. In July, Shinhan Investment Corp and Shinhan Venture Investment made a strategic equity investment in Digital Asset.

This month, Shinhan Asset Management became the first South Korean financial company to receive approval to participate as a “super validator” on the Canton Network.

Shinhan Financial is reviewing ways to link the bank’s payments and settlement infrastructure, securities tokenised asset distribution and asset management’s real-world asset tokenisation with the Canton Network.

On Sept. 29, Shinhan Financial Chairman Ok-dong Jin met Rooz and Canton Foundation head Bhive Dewakar to discuss group-level cooperation on tokenised finance.

Rooz declined to give details on specific tokenised securities business plans with Shinhan. He said he could not comment specifically because Shinhan would announce the details. He said he was explaining to financial authorities the network’s technology and regulatory response capabilities so the Canton Network can be used in regulated domestic infrastructure.

Cooperation with Hanwha Investment & Securities is also under way. Hanwha Investment & Securities signed an MOU with Digital Asset in April and completed a strategic investment of about 30 billion won in July.

It plans to expand its digital asset and next-generation financial services business through participation in the Canton Network ecosystem and cooperation with global financial institutions.

Rooz said Hanwha and Shinhan invested in Digital Asset and that Shinhan is also participating as a validator on the Canton Network. He said the South Korean market has significant room to connect with global finance.

He pointed to trade finance and cross-border payments as areas for cooperation with South Korean companies. He said opportunities could be found in linking transactions and payments by export companies, including electronics and defence, with onchain finance, given the export-heavy nature of the South Korean economy.

Rooz said South Korea is an export-driven economy and that global interest is high in its manufacturing and AI-related companies. He said trade finance and global payments could be very interesting use cases in South Korea. He also said that if shares of listed South Korean companies move onchain, overseas investment demand could also be expected.

Digital Asset is also pursuing ways to use the Canton Network that fit the regulatory environment facing South Korean financial companies. Canton is designed to keep the network itself open while allowing permissions and personal data protection conditions to be set for individual financial services.

Rooz said it would also be possible to build a separate environment aligned with South Korean regulations and then connect it with Canton networks in other countries depending on future institutional changes.

Digital Asset is also pursuing onchain conversion of existing financial products such as exchange-traded funds, stocks, money market funds and government bonds in the global market. Rooz said products could emerge on the Canton Network that allow 24-hour ETF creation and redemption.

He said technology itself cannot be a permanent competitive advantage. He said the biggest strength was that many large financial institutions are already participating in Canton. He added that the focus would be on helping existing participants expand real businesses on Canton.