Finance-Focused Blockchain Ault Targets South Korea, Unveils Vision at CIS 2026

Interview with Roland McClean, Head of Global Capital Markets at Ault Capital Group

Layer-1 Mainnet to Launch This Month

No Token Sale Draws Attention

DEX and Other DApps to Roll Out This Year

"We Will Expand Institutional Partnerships"

"The AULT blockchain is a network built specifically for financial markets. Most blockchains were built for technology. We built blockchain for finance."

Roland McClean, head of global capital markets at Ault Capital Group, made the remarks in a March 13 interview with Blommingbit. He said speculation and infrastructure are beginning to separate in the global Web3 market.

Blockchain is evolving from what was once a speculative casino into a clearing house, McClean said. He described Ault as a blockchain designed for that shift.

McClean spoke with Blommingbit ahead of the Crypto Investment Show 2026, or CIS 2026, which will be held in Seoul from March 17 to March 19. CIS 2026 is an investor-focused Web3 conference hosted by Xangle, a South Korean digital-asset data platform, with Hanwha Investment & Securities as title sponsor. About 200 institutional investors and roughly 5,000 retail investors are set to attend this year's event.

McClean said he is attending CIS 2026 because South Korea is a priority market for Ault, not a secondary one. Korean investors understand not only blockchain's potential, but also its limitations and failures, he said. That is why Ault sees the CIS audience as one capable of serious discussions about the next wave of blockchain innovation.

Ault Mainnet to Launch This Month

Ault Capital Group is the private-investment subsidiary of Hyperscale Data, a Nasdaq-listed U.S. company. The firm expanded its Web3 business last year and began developing Ault, its Cosmos-based layer-1 blockchain. The project entered the testnet phase in February.

Ault Capital Group plans to launch the Ault mainnet this month. McClean said the top priority immediately after launch is to create real transaction demand. Ault Capital Group also plans to join as the first validator, giving the network institutional-grade credibility.

Ault also drew attention when it launched its testnet in February without conducting a separate token sale. Blockchain projects typically carry out token offerings such as initial coin offerings, or ICOs, soon after releasing a testnet.

The economic benefit of that decision ultimately comes down to trust, McClean said. Without an ICO, there is no group of early investors preparing to sell tokens into the market. That means the token's value is tied entirely to the utility of the network. He added that the approach can also reduce regulatory risk as governments tighten oversight of token issuance.

Spot-Based DEX to Launch in First Half as Ault Pursues 'Financial Cloud' Goal

Ault plans to launch a spot-based decentralized exchange in the first half of this year. McClean said the DEX will undergo testing this month and begin full operations next month. Other layer-2 DApps are scheduled to roll out sequentially from the second quarter through the third quarter.

Next year, the company plans to deepen integration between its in-house artificial intelligence service, askROI, and its existing offerings, he said. It also plans to strengthen institutional partnerships across custody, compliance and cross-border capital flows.

Asked about Ault's longer-term vision, McClean said the goal is to become a "financial cloud." Within 10 years, much of the divide between traditional finance and decentralized finance will disappear, he said, replaced by transparent, borderless, 24-hour programmable finance. Ault's vision is to become the network that proves programmable finance can work on the basis of real capital, real transactions and real compliance.