Korea Investment & Securities, Kakao Group Team Up on Digital-Asset Issuance, Distribution and Wallet Infrastructure

Korea Investment & Securities said on October 1 that it will work with Kakao Group to develop financial services spanning digital-asset issuance and distribution, as well as infrastructure including electronic wallets.

Korea Investment & Securities signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Kakao, KakaoBank and Kakao Pay to jointly develop and market services related to digital-asset issuance and distribution. Based on the agreement, the companies plan to establish a broader cooperation framework across the digital-asset sector.

Specifically, they will identify business models using digital assets and pursue ways to link them with financial services such as investment, remittances and settlement. They also plan to jointly build core infrastructure needed to provide digital-asset services, including electronic wallets.

The agreement also covers cooperation in digital-asset custody and customer-facing services. Korea Investment & Securities said it aims to combine its asset-management and financial capabilities with Kakao Group's platform strength to develop new services in the digital-finance market.

The two sides had already been exploring potential cooperation in digital assets. Korea Investment & Securities had been reviewing models that could create synergies with KakaoBank in areas including wallet infrastructure, stablecoins and tokenized-securities distribution. The latest agreement expands that cooperation across the broader Kakao Group.

Kim Sung-hwan, president of Korea Investment & Securities, said the partnership would create an opportunity to explore new possibilities for digital-asset-based financial services by combining the firm's financial expertise with Kakao Group's platform dominance.

Yoon Ho-young, chief executive officer of KakaoBank and co-head of Kakao Group's stablecoin task force, said the companies will expand their cooperation from services tied to digital-asset issuance and distribution to digital-asset infrastructure more broadly.