KB Securities, Securitize and Optimism to Pilot Tokenized Money‑Market Fund on OP Mainnet

KB Securities announced a memorandum of understanding with U.S. tokenization provider Securitize and the Optimism Foundation to create tokenized investment products for institutional clients in South Korea. The first product will be a money‑market fund issued on the OP Mainnet network.

Partnership structure

Under the agreement, KB Securities will contribute its institutional client base and securities issuance expertise, Securitize will supply tokenization infrastructure, and Optimism will provide the underlying blockchain technology.

Planned product roadmap

• Initial launch: tokenized money‑market fund for institutional investors on OP Mainnet.
• Subsequent fund: a tokenized offering based on a KB Asset Management strategy (specific strategy not disclosed).
• Future possibilities: tokenized stocks, American depositary receipts, corporate bonds and Korean government bonds, subject to regulatory approvals.

Regulatory context

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) is advancing a three‑stage tokenized securities framework. The first stage, expected to take effect on 4 February 2027, will permit privately pooled money‑market funds and institutional bonds to be tokenized. Later stages will expand to publicly offered securities and integrate stablecoin‑based settlement.

Industry implications

The collaboration places OP Mainnet at the center of an institutional‑grade securities use case, extending Optimism’s reach beyond U.S.‑centric markets. Securitize, listed on the NYSE under the ticker SECZ, will act as the tokenization layer, linking Korean capital markets with its existing U.S. operations.

Company background

KB Securities, part of KB Financial Group, reported total assets of 76.5 trillion won and shareholders’ equity of 6.9 trillion won as of December 2025, with operations in six countries. Securitize manages roughly $5 billion in assets and has previously tokenized its own shares on Solana and Avalanche.