Kyobo Life Forms Digital Asset Unit to Expand STO, RWA Blockchain Push

Kyobo Life Insurance has set up a dedicated digital-asset unit and begun mapping out related businesses, as it moves to get ahead of digital-asset legislation with blockchain-based ventures including tokenized securities, or STOs, and real-world assets, or RWAs.

Kyobo Life told Bloomingbit on May 12 that it established the department in April. The company has also been recruiting specialists in planning and development since the second half of 2025, according to the report. A company official said Kyobo Life is preparing in advance of digital-asset legislation and continuing to explore a range of initiatives.

The new unit also reflects Chairman Shin Chang-jae's push to expand into what he has internally described as future finance. In the second half of 2025, Shin said the group needed new initiatives to broaden a structure still heavily weighted toward insurance and should orient that effort around blockchain-based businesses, according to people familiar with the matter.

The department will oversee the Kyobo Group's medium- to long-term digital-asset roadmap. Job postings from Kyobo Life in the first half of 2026 show the company is planning businesses focused on stablecoins, STOs and Web3.

The insurer is also reviewing the creation of an overseas subsidiary specializing in digital assets, as well as cross-border payments and the use of stablecoins. It is also working on an in-house blockchain-based digital-asset wallet, remittance and custody services, and developing an RWA platform.

Kyobo Life is widening cooperation with global blockchain companies. In April, it reviewed the status of a testnet for a project with Ripple to verify technology for trading government bonds using blockchain infrastructure. The project is designed to test a structure that converts real-world financial assets such as government bonds into digital tokens for trading on a blockchain.

In December 2025, Kyobo Life became the only South Korean insurer to participate in the public testnet of Arc, a network developed by Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. It has also joined the KDX Consortium, an over-the-counter STO alliance led by Korea Exchange and Koscom, as a major shareholder.

The digital-asset industry is closely watching the insurer's moves because it manages a large pool of capital. Entry by a major life insurer could accelerate the expansion of the digital-asset ecosystem and its incorporation into the regulated financial system. Kyobo Life had about 128 trillion won ($92.8 billion) in assets under management as of 2025.

"Life insurers tend to be relatively conservative in adopting new technologies," an industry official said. "But given the scale of Kyobo Life's assets under management, interest in alternative investments using digital assets and in developing new products will inevitably grow over the long term."