[Digital Today reporter Ji-young Lee] Viva Republica, operator of Toss, is joining hands with Kyobo Life Insurance to explore ways to apply digital assets to financial services such as insurance.

Toss said on Aug. 12 it signed a memorandum of understanding with Kyobo Life Insurance on Aug. 7 to cooperate on building a digital-asset ecosystem and services.

The partners will draw up ways to apply digital assets to financial services and platform operations. They will also share information and build a joint response system to establish digital-asset standards that comply with regulations. They will pursue a proof of concept for this.

The two companies plan to first flesh out ways to use digital assets and then establish a standard model through the proof of concept. Based on the results, they will examine areas where digital assets can be applied in practice across financial services, including insurance.

Toss has recently expanded technology and business cooperation related to digital assets. Last month, it signed memorandums of understanding with layer-2 blockchain Optimism and privacy-solution developer Sunnyside Labs to review the feasibility of developing a won-linked stablecoin and began a proof of concept.

Together with Toss Bank, it is also reviewing possible cooperation with global stablecoin issuer Circle in blockchain-based payment and settlement infrastructure.

The agreement expands the scope of cooperation from blockchain technology companies to traditional financial firms. Toss plans to verify the feasibility of applying digital assets to financial services by linking Kyobo Life Insurance's asset management and risk management capabilities with its platform.

Kim Gyu-ha (김규하), vice president at Toss, said, "Strict regulatory compliance and reliable partnerships are essential for digital assets to be applied safely to financial services in practice." He added, "Together with Kyobo Life, we will continue to verify the potential of digital-asset-based financial services that users can feel."