Kakao Pay, Siebert plan tokenized Korean stocks for U.S.

Kakao Pay Securities and Nasdaq-listed Siebert Financial Corp. announced a partnership called K-Stock Global Gateway to offer tokenized South Korean stocks to U.S. investors. The firms are targeting the first half of 2027 and say the service would let U.S. investors trade Korean shares when Seoul markets are closed.

Under the agreement, Siebert (Nasdaq: SIEB) will provide U.S. brokerage infrastructure while Kakao Pay Securities will supply local market access and about 9 million existing South Korean stock accounts. The partners plan to explore converting ownership of Korean equities into digital tokens that can trade on a blockchain-based platform outside the hours of the underlying exchange.

The companies said tokenized shares could shorten settlement times and are studying whether trades could settle the same day under a T+0 model instead of the standard multi-day cycle. They also plan to examine custody arrangements and the technical links needed between tokenized instruments and the underlying listed shares.

Executives described tokenization as the partnership’s initial product. Siebert and Kakao Pay Securities intend to add other services over time, such as combined brokerage access, new financial products, market content and investor education to give U.S. traders more information about Korean companies.

Siebert’s chief executive John J. Gebbia described Kakao Pay Securities’ selection of Siebert as a validation of Siebert’s financial infrastructure. Simon Shin, chief executive of Kakao Pay Securities, said the aim is to combine the firm’s technology, content and community reach with Siebert’s U.S. market access to connect investors in both countries.

Both firms emphasized that any rollout requires regulatory approval in the United States and South Korea. They said regulators will need to address custody, market surveillance and investor protection standards, and that the launch would follow a phased approach tied to those reviews.