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Korea Risks Falling Behind in $9 billion Race to Tokenize Real-World Assets
The burgeoning market for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization is rapidly reshaping the financial landscape, but South korea faces the prospect of being left behind as global competitors aggressively embrace the technology. While the U.S. and other nations are attracting significant capital through tokenized assets, Korea’s regulatory framework remains a significant hurdle.
The global RWA market, encompassing assets like government bonds, real estate, and commodities, is experiencing explosive growth. According to data from RWA.xyz, tokenized money market funds (MMFs) backed by U.S. government bonds reached $8.99 billion (approximately 13 trillion Korean won) as of late January – a 2.3-fold increase from early 2025 when the market stood at $3.9 billion. These tokenized MMFs function similarly to conventional parking accounts, offering a fixed $1 value per token and distributing profits as dividends, but with the added benefit of 24/7 trading and immediate settlement.
Leading the charge is BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, with its “BUIDL” token. BlackRock, fresh off the launch of a prosperous bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), is strategically positioning itself at the forefront of RWA digitization. As of late January, BUIDL held a value of $1.73 billion (roughly 2.5086 trillion won),followed by Circle’s USYC at $1.52475 billion (approximately 2.17 trillion won). Together,these two entities control over 36% of the tokenized MMF market.
Though, access to these leading funds remains limited. BUIDL requires a minimum investment of $5 million, while USYC demands $100,000, effectively excluding individual investors. Franklin Templeton’s “BENJI” offers a more accessible entry point with a $20 minimum, but currently holds a modest 9% market share.
The trend extends beyond MMFs,with tokenization rapidly expanding into stocks,gold,and crude oil.The scale of tokenized raw materials, as a notable example, has quadrupled as the begining of 2025, reaching $3.97269 billion. The tokenized stock market has more than doubled in the same period, reaching a market capitalization of $740.76 million.
Despite this global momentum, Korea is struggling to keep pace. Advancement of related projects is currently restricted to innovative financial services (sandboxes), hindering broader adoption. According to RWA.xyz, the U.S. leads the world with 137 issuers of tokenized assets, followed by the British Virgin Islands (130), Cayman Islands (25), Germany (16), Hong Kong (13), the U.K. (10),Singapore (10),Brazil (9),and france (6).
Amendments to Korea’s Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act, crucial for the introduction of token securities (STOs), are still awaiting final approval by the plenary session. While the approval of an STO exchange is anticipated this year, progress has been slow, with only limited investment products, such as Music Cow (linked to music Core Intellectual Property), currently available through the sandbox.
“While the U.S. and Singapore are attracting global liquidity through RWA, Korea lacks the legal foundation to even participate in the market,” stated a representative from the Korea Capital Markets Institute. “This inaction risks complete exclusion from the burgeoning competition for ‘tokenization finance exports’ that will intensify this year.”
Tokenization refers to the process of representing ownership rights to real-world assets – including stocks, real estate, and gold – as digital tokens on a blockchain, enabling easier and more efficient trading.
The stakes are high. Without swift regulatory action, Korea risks missing out on a transformative financial opportunity and ceding ground to more agile global competitors.