Optimism is broadening its South Korea push beyond DB Financial Investment to include Dunamu’s GIWA and Toss, targeting institutional digital-asset infrastructure tied to security token offerings, real-world assets and stablecoins.
Optimism said on July 16 that it is expanding its South Korea business through partnerships with Dunamu’s GIWA blockchain, Toss and DB Securities as demand grows for institutional on-chain financial infrastructure tied to security token offerings, real-world asset tokenization and stablecoins. The company said it plans to serve South Korean financial institutions, fintech firms and cryptocurrency companies using OP Stack and OP Enterprise, an institutional product designed to let clients run finance, trading and payment functions on blockchain networks without building in-house blockchain teams. In May, Optimism signed a memorandum of understanding with Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, to strengthen GIWA’s technology and review South Korea digital-asset infrastructure business models based on the OP Stack while exploring overseas expansion. On July 8, it signed an MOU with Toss and began a proof-of-concept project to test whether the OP Stack can support won-based digital financial infrastructure and meet regulatory compliance, privacy and performance requirements over the next three months. It is also working with DB Securities on a Jeju-focused security token offering and real-world asset initiative covering smart-farm assets, livestock assets and Korean intellectual property, combining the securities firm's business network with Optimism’s Ethereum Layer 2 infrastructure. Earlier, DB Financial Investment said on July 15 that it had signed an MOU with the Optimism Foundation to advance Jeju-based STO and RWA businesses and explore partnership models in South Korea and overseas. Optimism said it aims to expand further into regulated finance segments including securities, cards, payments and fintech. OP Labs Chief Executive Officer Jing Wang said South Korea’s regulatory changes and digital-asset market give it potential to grow faster than any market Optimism has entered.