South Korean asset managers are rolling out digital asset ETFs in overseas markets while building blockchain partnerships and tokenisation infrastructure at home, positioning themselves for a domestic market that has yet to permit spot digital asset products but is widely expected to open further as regulation evolves.
The gap between what Korean firms can offer at home and abroad is substantial. Global X Japan, in which Mirae Asset affiliate Global X holds a 50% stake, listed the Global X Stablecoins and Tokenization ETF on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in February, investing in companies tied to global stablecoin and tokenisation businesses. Global X Australia separately runs spot bitcoin and ether ETFs. Samsung Asset Management operates the Samsung Blockchain Technologies ETF and a bitcoin futures ETF in Hong Kong. South Korea has not introduced spot digital asset ETFs and products centred explicitly on stablecoins or tokenisation remain absent from the domestic market.
Domestic exposure exists, but indirectly. Samsung Active Asset Management's KoAct US Nasdaq Growth Companies Active holds Strategy, the bitcoin treasury company, and Circle, the USDC issuer, without positioning itself as a digital asset product. Korean ETFs tracking the Nasdaq 100 also carry indirect exposure to bitcoin treasury companies through index inclusion. The distinction, as industry participants describe it, is less about whether Korean managers can invest in digital asset companies and more about how prominently they can make that the core product strategy.
Behind the scenes, Korean asset managers are building the infrastructure they expect to need when regulations shift. Shinhan Asset Management signed a business agreement with the Canton Foundation in June, gaining access to Canton Network's institutional blockchain infrastructure for its tokenisation, RWA, and token securities work. It has also hired specialists to build out that capability internally.
Mirae Asset Management worked with Ondo Finance in the first half of 2026 to tokenise 15 Global X ETFs on-chain and is building broader on-chain asset management infrastructure with global blockchain operators. The firm's strategy is to use overseas units to test what each jurisdiction's regulatory scope permits before bringing capabilities home.
Hanwha Asset Management signed a business agreement with the Solana Foundation earlier this year to begin research on related products and technology. Samsung Asset Management acquired a 20% stake in US ETF manager Amplify to secure capabilities in blockchain ETFs, and KB Asset Management has introduced a Digital Asset Value Chain Fund investing in blockchain platforms and related companies.
An asset management industry official told local media the mood has shifted. "Recently, the mood has changed as businesses such as RWA and tokenisation that can be connected to the existing asset management industry have become concrete," the official said.
The industry expects competition to accelerate if spot digital asset ETFs and institutionalisation of token securities become available domestically, with firms that have secured blockchain networks and tokenisation infrastructure overseas likely to hold an early advantage.
