The author is an analyst at NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at [email protected]. — Ed.
Hanwha I&S collaborates with Dunamu and Lambda256 and has been actively preparing to launch a blockchain business. Using its extensive network, the firm is expected to work with blockchain startups for the long term. We believe that the emergence of the STO market will provide opportunities for Hanwha I&S, given its competitive advantage in promoting new businesses.
Will likely partner with blockchain firms down the road
Since 2018, Hanwha I&S has partnered with a number of blockchain startups via venture investments and MOUs. Some of the startups that received special market attention include Dunamu and Lambda256. Hanwha I&S has a 6% stake in Dunamu, operator of cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, and has fluctuated in line with the prices and trends of digital assets, rather than those of the securities sector.
Although digital asset players are interested in entering the STO market, their absence of a securities license makes it difficult. Given this, we expect to see collaboration between Hanwha I&S and a number of digital asset players in the long term.
In our view, Hanwha Group’s strong interest in and aggressive support for nurturing new growth businesses (as also illustrated by other Hanwha affiliates including Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Aerospace) bodes well for the securities firm’s foray into the security token market.
Platform power to strengthen when launching new investment products
Upon the opening of the domestic digital security market, we expect that Hanwha I&S will mainly focus on trading services. The company already has a solid internal trading solution. Although its relatively weak competitiveness in the MTS market remains a problem, the firm is well aware of this problem and therefore plans to expand its investment channels. Hanwha previously partnered with Woori Bank (Woori WON) and PAYCO for stock trading services.
The firm is also committed to the development of new products for its security token business, with a strong interest in products that use real estate and unlisted shares as underlying assets. The firm has already secured related partner companies. The plan is to attract more traffic on the trading platform by offering attractive tokenized security products to retail investors.
