Shinhan taps Plume for KRW tokenized fund pilot, stablecoins at $300B

Shinhan Asset Management signed an MOU with Plume to pilot a won-denominated tokenized fund backed by ultra-short-term Korean bonds.

The pilot is intended to test the overseas use of won-denominated financial products in onchain markets that have largely developed around dollar-denominated assets, Shinhan said Friday.

The project uses Shinhan's won ultra-short bond fund as the underlying asset, benchmarked against BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized fund. The companies will test compliance requirements including whitelist-based transfer restrictions, onchain operations, Know-Your-Customer checks, and Anti-Money Laundering controls. Global stablecoin issuance has surpassed $300 billion, yet won-denominated assets remain minimal in on-chain markets.

If successful, the pilot could open a path for Korean financial institutions to tap into growing demand for tokenized assets in offshore markets. The proof of concept will provide critical data on how won-denominated products might perform in a global digital asset environment, though it does not guarantee a commercial launch.

Plume's RWA infrastructure and Shinhan's digital asset push

Plume is an EVM-compatible, permissionless Layer-1 blockchain built for real-world asset tokenization. The network already hosts tokenized fund offerings from WisdomTree, the asset manager with roughly $100 billion in assets under management. WisdomTree's presence on Plume demonstrated on-chain settlement capabilities, which likely served as a proof point when Shinhan evaluated potential blockchain partners.

For Shinhan, this isn't an isolated foray into digital assets. In July 2026, Shinhan Financial Group signed a separate MOU with Digital Asset, the enterprise blockchain firm, focused on tokenization and digital asset management for Korean securities. In April, fellow group affiliate Shinhan Card signed an MOU with the Solana Foundation to test stablecoin payment technology and explore non-custodial wallets. Shinhan Bank completed a stablecoin remittance pilot in July 2023.

The choice to denominate the fund in Korean won rather than US dollars is significant. Most tokenized fund products globally have been dollar-denominated, reflecting the greenback's dominance in capital markets. A won-denominated product would serve Korean institutional and potentially retail investors who want exposure to tokenized fixed income without taking on currency risk.

The decision to test in a jurisdiction outside South Korea reflects the cautious pace of Korean regulators, who have been moving toward clearer digital asset frameworks but often push institutions to look offshore for initial pilots.

The key variable to watch is whether this moves beyond the MOU stage into actual fund deployment. The specificity of the agreement — naming the asset type, denomination, and offshore pilot structure — suggests both parties have moved past the exploratory handshake phase. If the proof of concept succeeds, it could set a template for other Asian asset managers seeking to bring local-currency products into on-chain markets.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.