Shinhan partners Solana for won-denominated tokenized fund test

Shinhan Asset Management, one of South Korea’s largest asset managers, has entered into a four-party agreement to develop a proof-of-concept for a tokenized investment fund denominated in Korean won. The memorandum of understanding, signed on August 21, 2026, involves the Solana Foundation, tokenization platform Etherfuse, and decentralized exchange Orca. The initiative aims to test the entire lifecycle of issuing and distributing a tokenized fund using the Solana blockchain, marking one of the most ambitious institutional tokenization projects in the country to date.

Under the agreement, the proposed proof-of-concept will model a fund similar in structure to BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized fund, though it would invest in short-term Korean won bonds rather than U.S. Treasury assets. The test will cover essential regulatory and operational steps, including investor onboarding, know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks, token issuance, blockchain functionality, and the design of on-chain liquidity for secondary market trading. Shinhan Asset Management will provide asset management expertise and oversee regulatory compliance, while the Solana Foundation will supply the...