‘All Companies Will Use Digital Assets,’ Speakers Say at EastPoint: Seoul 2026

“Most companies will use digital assets in the future. As institutional adoption grows, custody will become essential infrastructure.”

Moses Lee, head of Asia-Pacific at Anchorage Digital, made the remarks on Sept. 28 at EastPoint: Seoul 2026, held at the Westin Seoul Parnas in Samseong-dong, Seoul. He said artificial intelligence and digital assets will eventually be used across corporate activity, much as every company now uses the internet.

Yu Min-ho, chief strategy officer at iotrust, offered a similar view. He said most companies will eventually handle virtual assets and digital assets. On one side, custody — in which assets are entrusted to specialist institutions — will take hold. On the other, self-custody — in which companies manage assets directly — will become established.

Speakers also said corporate use of digital assets in South Korea could expand in earnest once the legal framework is in place. Cho Jin-seok, CEO of Korea Digital Asset, or KODA, said domestic corporations currently use digital assets largely for simple storage. If a Digital Asset Basic Act is established, more diverse use cases could emerge.

The importance of the custody industry is also poised to grow as more companies and institutions enter the market. Lee called custody the most fundamental part of the digital-asset industry. Anchorage’s federal charter in the U.S., he added, shows digital assets can be handled safely within the traditional banking regulatory framework.

Speakers said the key conditions for institutional-grade custody services are segregation of client assets and clear legal liability when accidents occur. That means building a structure that protects client assets not only through technical security, but also under the law if a custodian goes bankrupt or suffers a hack or other incident.

Chris Park, BitGo’s Asia CEO, said the most important standard is liability rather than technology. Clients need to examine whether their assets are clearly separated from a custodian’s proprietary assets and whether they can safely recover those assets in the event of an incident or bankruptcy.

Speakers also said regulators need to establish a safe custody framework in preparation for broader institutional use of digital assets. At the same time, the pace of technological change means regulators alone cannot address every detailed risk. Custodians also need their own risk-management capabilities.

Wai Lum Kwok, executive director at Abu Dhabi Global Market, said that when ADGM established its digital-asset regulatory framework in 2018, it extended traditional finance rules into the digital-asset sector to create a safe custody foundation. More recently, however, the speed of technological development has made it difficult for regulators to respond to every change individually.

He added that custodians need continuous monitoring, stress tests and penetration tests, as well as internal controls and governance systems that allow them to respond independently to new technological risks.

Park Si-on / Jin Uk, Bloomingbit reporter