South Korea’s new economic roadmap is a massive bet on blockchain technology

From tokenized public spending trials to government bond pilots, the state is aggressively pushing public finance onto distributed ledgers.

South Korea’s new economic roadmap is a massive bet on blockchain technology

Policy

South Korea to modify 76-year-old law to classify cryptocurrencies as national assets

The government also reaffirmed plans to pilot tokenized government bonds next year and explore tokenizing state-owned real estate.

By

Olivier Acuna

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Edited by

Sheldon Reback

Jul 15, 2026, 2:35 p.m.

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South Korea is planning to modernize its national assets law to include cryptocurrencies. (Yu Kato/Unsplash)

Summary

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South Korea plans to revise its 1950 National Property Act to classify virtual currencies and intellectual property as national assets and modernize management of state-owned property.

The government will pilot tokenized government bonds in 2027, explore tokenizing state-owned real estate for retail investors, and link these systems to the Bank of Korea’s central bank digital currency infrastructure.

Legal amendments taking effect Feb. 4, 2027, will give blockchain-based ledgers formal recognition as security registries under the Capital Markets Act and the Electronic Act.

South Korea plans to update its 76-year-old national asset management system to formally include virtual currencies and intellectual property in the country’s definition of national assets, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s economic policy

roadmap released Wednesday.

The proposal contemplates revising the National Property Act, which dates back to 1950, and includes plans to create a broader legal framework for managing state-owned assets. The ministry reiterated plans to start a pilot program for tokenized government bonds in 2027, saying blockchain technology has the potential to reduce transaction costs and speed up transfers.

Officials are also studying the tokenization of state-owned real estate to allow retail investors to participate and share in investment returns, according to the plan.

The announcement builds on South Korea’s broader push to bring blockchain into public finance. Earlier this year, the

Finance Ministry said it would begin

testing tokenized deposits for government spending in the fourth quarter. The Bank of Korea has already started trials of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) with commercial banks.

The government said it plans to connect tokenized government bonds to the Bank of Korea’s CBDC infrastructure during the 2027 pilot and will study interoperability between the central bank’s blockchain network and other distributed ledger platforms.

Amendments to the Capital Markets Act and the Electronic Act are scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4, 2027, giving blockchain-ledger systems legal recognition as security registries.

South Korea

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