Hancom WITH, which serves as a holding company for the Hancom Group, is stepping up its global physical gold asset tokenisation (Gold RWA) business in Dubai.

Hancom WITH will set up a local joint venture in Dubai with UAE gold trading company Al Dafra Al Gharbia Gold Trading (ADGT) and global business development company Cast Holdings.

The company said the joint venture will provide services under a single entity, from sourcing physical gold to issuing and redeeming on-chain tokens.

The joint venture will be established in Dubai with total paid-in capital of 800,000 dollars. Hancom WITH and ADGT will each hold 40 percent, while Cast Holdings will hold 20 percent.

ADGT will handle physical gold sourcing, refining and storage based on its Tanzania gold mine project and local distribution network in the UAE. Hancom WITH will build and operate the issuance and redemption system to convert secured physical gold into on-chain assets. Cast Holdings will support cooperation with local institutions and companies and help establish an operating system, drawing on its business development capabilities linking South Korea, China and the UAE.

The joint venture plans to accelerate efforts to secure a local physical gold supply chain based on a network the Almajroei family has built in the UAE gold distribution sector. It will focus on completing a structure to issue OXAU using physical gold secured through ADGT's supply chain, and plans to expand the business later to areas such as putting mining finance contracts on-chain based on gold production volumes.

The three companies also agreed to design a regulatory compliance framework from the initial stage of the business. They plan to regularly disclose, through third-party verification, whether physical gold holdings match the issued tokens.

Hancom WITH said the joint venture will give it a stable source of physical supply for its existing gold token business. Hancom WITH launched its real-world asset blockchain platform Ontorium in global markets in April, which it built jointly with affiliate AB Labs.

Hancom WITH CEO Sang-yeop Song (송상엽) said an agreement in July set the direction, while the establishment of the joint venture completed the organisation and system to execute the business. He said the company will solidify its foothold in the Middle East market and expand the business to global markets, based on a stable technology and business structure linking real-world assets and blockchain.