Samsung SDS wins deal to build South Korea’s blockchain securities system: Report

Samsung SDS, Samsung’s information technology services subsidiary, will reportedly build a token securities platform for the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), moving South Korea’s central securities depository closer to operating blockchain-based securities infrastructure as the country prepares a legal framework for tokenized assets.

Samsung SDS won a contract to build and operate the platform for KSD, according to local reports from Yonhap News Agency and The Korea Times. The project is expected to be completed by February 2027 and will convert a technology verification testbed into a formal system capable of stable service operations.

KSD plans to link its existing electronic securities account system with blockchain-based distributed ledger data to strengthen tokenized securities issuance and rights management, according to the reports.

Samsung SDS previously worked on KSD’s tokenized securities efforts, including function-analysis consulting in 2024 and testbed platform construction in 2025, Seoul Economic Daily reported.

The news comes as South Korea is preparing the market infrastructure needed to support tokenized securities once its incoming legal framework takes effect.

South Korea prepares its tokenized securities framework

On Jan. 15, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said amendments to the Electronic Registration Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act had passed the National Assembly, paving the way for the issuance and circulation of security tokens.

The FSC said the amended Electronic Registration Act legally recognizes blockchain-based distributed ledgers as securities registries. The regulator also said token security issuers will be required to follow legally mandated procedures and apply for electronic registration with KSD, placing the depository at the center of South Korea’s future token securities infrastructure.

On March 4, the FSC launched a public-private consultative body on security tokens. The consultative body will work on rules and infrastructure for security tokens across four areas: technology and infrastructure, issuance, circulation and payment and settlement.

In the announcement, the FSC also said that the framework is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4, 2027, after updates to subordinate rules and the setup of relevant infrastructure. That timing closely matches Samsung SDS’s reported February 2027 target for completing the KSD platform.