Mirae Asset Securities said in a report on Feb. 6 that HectoFinancial is emerging as the core of stablecoin settlement after securing global direct-connection rails (infrastructure) for stablecoins.

Nami Kim (김나미), an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said in the report that HectoFinancial is expanding beyond its account-based fintech platform and payment gateway business into "stablecoin rails" and that expectations for stablecoin and digital asset-related policies are emerging as an additional growth momentum.

Kim gave a positive assessment of the first-mover effect in stablecoin payment and settlement infrastructure stemming from a partnership with Circle. "HectoFinancial has moved beyond the preparation stage for stablecoins and has already completed building execution infrastructure, taking the lead in the market," she said. "It has also completed building infrastructure based on the Circle Payment Network (CPN), securing global settlement rails centered on stablecoins," she added.

"Through this, HectoFinancial has built an automated, real-time cross-border settlement system using USDC and other assets without intermediaries, and it plans to step up efforts to target the global platform B2B payment and remittance market based on Arc's on-chain FX engine and payment finality," Kim added.

Kim said that if stablecoin-based settlement rails are combined in the future and partnerships and integration with global ecosystems such as Circle become more concrete, additional growth potential is expected as overseas settlement becomes more competitive on speed and cost.

Kim also cited synergies among Hecto Group affiliates as a strength. "HectoFinancial's strength is that it has built the full stablecoin value chain within the group, from wallets and custody to compliance," she said. "In particular, it plans to maximize operational efficiency by directly embedding the wallet solution of HectoWalletOne, in which its parent company (HectoInnovation) has secured the position as the largest shareholder, into overseas settlement processes," she added.