Samsung SDS (018260.KS) has won a contract to build and operate the Korea Securities Depository's (KSD) security token offering (STO) platform, the company said Thursday.
STOs are securities issued and managed using distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain. Like stocks or bonds, ownership rights and dividends can be recorded in digital form and traded securely. The technology simplifies securities transaction procedures and allows assets to be divided into small units for investment.
Interest in the STO market is growing as demand rises for tokenization, which converts financial products into digital form, and for trading digitized real-world assets such as artwork and real estate. In response, the KSD is strengthening STO issuance and management functions by linking its existing electronic securities account system with blockchain-based distributed ledger data, preparing for future market expansion.
Samsung SDS has built relevant capabilities by successfully carrying out the KSD's STO-related projects, including "STO Functional Analysis Consulting" in 2024 and "Testbed Platform Construction" in 2025. The company plans to build a full-fledged STO system for actual transaction processing and stable service operation, targeting February 2027.
In this project, Samsung SDS will implement a total volume management system that transparently manages all transactions by tracking STO issuance volumes and circulation in real time. This function plays a key role in ensuring that market participants can trade with confidence. The company will also build the overall IT infrastructure required for STO operations, including a gateway system, blockchain node operation and management framework, and distributed ledger system configuration.
"Through this project, we will support the activation of the STO market and make it a leading success case in the digital asset field," said Lee Jung-heon, Executive Vice President of Samsung SDS's Strategy & Marketing Office.
Meanwhile, Samsung SDS this year newly established a "Digital Asset Consulting Group" under the Financial Consulting Team within the Strategy & Marketing Office. The Digital Asset Consulting Group is an organization responsible for developing business strategies and handling sales for virtual asset-related businesses, including STOs and stablecoins. ★See this publication, March 31, Page 12.
