Why South Korea’s insurers are slow to adopt tokenized securities

South Korea’s banks and securities firms are preparing tokenized assets, which use blockchain records to track ownership.

The country’s token securities law is due to take effect on February 4, 2027, with private money-market funds and private bonds among the first assets to be recorded on blockchain.

Insurers have been much less active than banks and securities firms in testing the technology.

Faster settlement can cut costs for banks and securities firms, but insurers depend on long-term asset management for much of their earnings.

That makes quicker transactions less valuable to them, according to the article.

Kyobo Life has tested insurance premium payments using stablecoins and settlement of tokenized government bonds, while the wider insurance sector remains at an early stage.

Insurers may find more value in investing and managing assets than in issuing tokenized products, but the article does not say what they will do next.