Hanwha Investment & Securities. Yonhap News
Hanwha Investment & Securities has reorganized its crypto investment unit and opened a local office in the United States. The brokerage is also developing a digital asset platform and investing in blockchain companies at home and abroad, broadening the base of its digital asset business.
Hanwha Investment & Securities recently reorganized its Global Network Team into a Synergy Investment Team and is hiring experienced staff, according to financial investment industry sources on the 28th. The Synergy Investment Team handles sourcing and due diligence of investment targets, deal structuring, valuation and contract execution, as well as strategic collaboration with digital asset companies already in its portfolio. The aim is to move beyond simple equity stakes and strengthen business ties with portfolio companies to accelerate the build-out of a digital asset ecosystem.
The company has also set up a base in the United States to source new global businesses. Hanwha Investment & Securities formally opened its San Francisco office on the 3rd of this month. The office is tasked with tracking local applications of next-generation financial technology such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and real-world assets, along with market trends, and with identifying opportunities in digital finance and new businesses.
Pinetree Securities, its Singapore unit, is also being used to build an overseas network for the digital asset business. Wholly owned by Hanwha Investment & Securities, Pinetree Securities is sourcing digital asset partnerships, building a network for sourcing overseas financial products and expanding cooperation with global asset managers and local investment institutions.
Hanwha Investment & Securities is also accelerating work on a digital asset platform, or DAP. After beginning development last year, the company set out goals at this year’s management strategy meeting of transforming into a brokerage specializing in digital assets and becoming the world’s top RWA hub. The DAP is a service that allows traditional financial assets such as stocks and bonds to be managed and traded on the same platform as digital assets. It is being developed to link the tokenization of real-world assets, on-chain distribution and collateralized financing using tokenized assets. The company plans to launch it in global markets first in 2027, then expand the scope of the service in line with regulatory changes in South Korea.
Strategic investments to secure a digital asset value chain are also continuing. Hanwha Investment & Securities has invested in Digital Asset, the operator of the finance-focused Canton Network blockchain, U.S. tokenized securities issuer Securitize and Web3 infrastructure company Chryseus. In South Korea, it invested in on-chain data analytics firm CrossAngle and recently bought additional shares in Dunamu, the operator of the Upbit exchange, raising its stake to 9.84%.
The push into digital assets is also seen as an effort to secure a new growth engine. Second-quarter operating profit rose 47.4% from a year earlier to 55.6 billion won on a consolidated basis, while net profit fell 7.8% to 27 billion won. First-half operating profit was 85.3 billion won, roughly flat from a year earlier, while net profit dropped 30.6% to 46.2 billion won.