"Recently I attended an event hosted by Nasdaq, and they were discussing plans to tokenize all listed stocks by year-end. If Nasdaq has already completed the technical discussions, the train has effectively left the station."
John Cahill, chief operating officer (COO) for Asia-Pacific at Galaxy Digital, made the remarks at the opening panel discussion of "Bitcoin Seoul 2026," held on the 4th at the FKI Tower in Yeouido, Seoul, co-hosted by Seoul Economic Daily and Decenter. "Doing nothing right now is the most dangerous thing," he said.
The discussion was moderated by Hong Ki-hoon, head of the Toss Insight research institute, with Viv Diwakar, head of the Canton Foundation, and CK Ong, chief executive officer (CEO) of SBI Digital Markets, taking part.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved Nasdaq to trade and settle listed stocks in tokenized form. Rather than simply splitting and buying Nasdaq shares, populations around the world that had been excluded from the global settlement network will be able to easily trade in tokenized form. This carries significance in that it moves beyond debating whether assets can be tokenized to examining whether the financial market itself can operate in an on-chain environment. In Korea, concerns are emerging that Nasdaq tokenization could absorb liquidity from the domestic stock market.
Diwakar also said, "If tokenization enables real-time settlement and overcomes cross-border settlement barriers, U.S. stocks will no longer be assets traded only in the U.S.," adding, "A truly global market will be created where anyone qualified can trade at any time." COO Cahill predicted, "If stocks are traded on-chain, mega-cap global companies that hold listed stocks could be the biggest beneficiaries."
However, converting various assets such as real estate and bonds into tokens does not bring in large-scale liquidity the way Nasdaq stocks do. Since tokenization is merely a way of packaging an asset in digital form, the asset itself must be attractive. In other words, tokenization alone does not create liquidity.
CEO Ong also said, "Many issuers mistake tokenization for a tool that provides magic capital," adding, "The intrinsic value of the asset matters more than whether it is tokenized." Diwakar likewise stressed, "Recording an asset on-chain is itself an already-solved problem," noting, "What matters more is how it can be utilized—through cash settlement, providing collateral, and so on."
There were also voices saying that many problems must be resolved before tokenized trading can take place. CEO Ong argued, "Cash or stablecoins were recognized as means of payment with little regulation, but tokenized securities must meet country-by-country regulations," adding, "There are also asset custody issues, and challenges pile up such as securing appropriate cross-border distribution channels and commercial models."
Nikhil Ariyasinghe, vice president for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Chainlink, said in a lecture themed on "on-chain expansion," "Institutional funds can flow in earnest only when on-chain and off-chain connectivity, regulatory compliance, and the like are all in place," assessing that "as major financial institutions such as UBS, JPMorgan, and HSBC enter, they are creating a new growth engine for on-chain finance."
Fisher Yu, co-founder of Babylon Labs, emphasized the need to use Bitcoin as collateral. Yu explained, "Bitcoin has low volatility relative to its value and is widely accepted in global markets, so using it as collateral can secure both liquidity and returns." Jason Fang, CEO of Sora Ventures, said regarding Bitcoin holding strategies, "Because Asian countries have many regulations on accounting and disclosure, an operating model that can generate cash flow is more important than simply holding, as is done in the U.S."
There was also keen interest in the state of Korea's blockchain regulations, including the Digital Asset Basic Act. Ashish Birla, CEO of Evernorth, one of the largest holders of XRP (formerly Ripple), the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, who attended as a speaker, said, "Korea is one of the countries where XRP is traded the most and is a very important market in terms of tokenization," adding, "I hope Korea's regulations are finalized quickly."
Domestic financial firms are eagerly developing digital financial products. Nam Gung-seol, division head at Shinhan Card, said, "We have created a structure where stablecoins can be used like check and prepaid cards," adding, "For stablecoin payments to spread, infrastructure usable anywhere and the issue of payment cancellation fees must be resolved first."
