[Interview] Lee Yun-ho, CEO of KIP: "We need to set the stage before the STO market opens... sharing RWA know-how with financial companies"

Next year, aiming to launch domestic STO products... promoting collaboration with financial companies

Based on RWA investment and management experience, moving towards portfolio productization

"If we prepare after the market opens, it will be too late... we need to build experience and methodology first"

[Block Media Reporter Oh Su-hwan] "Our goal is to showcase the portfolio we have been investing in and preparing for as STO products in collaboration with domestic financial companies when the domestic token securities (STO) market opens in earnest."

Lee Yun-ho, CEO of Kaia Investment Partners (KIP) and Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) of Kaia, shared this vision for entering the domestic STO market during a meeting with Block Media at WeWork in Samsung-dong, Seoul, on the 22nd. KIP plans to productize portfolio assets in line with the blossoming of the domestic STO market, based on its experience in real-world asset (RWA) investment and management accumulated overseas, and to collaborate with domestic financial companies to launch actual products.

Initially, KIP is promoting the idea of showcasing domestic STO products using the portfolio of the RWA product "Yield 8," which was launched last April.

Lee stated, "Our goal for next year is to productize at least one of the places that have been preparing for STO among the Yield 8 portfolio in collaboration with domestic financial companies. Since we have been steadily preparing related projects and portfolios, we plan to launch actual products when the domestic system and market conditions are in place."

KIP is an investment company that develops its business on the dual pillars of venture investment and RWA management. In the venture sector, it invests in companies that hold underlying assets and tokenization infrastructure companies, focusing on the stablecoin and RWA ecosystem. In the RWA sector, it focuses on discovering assets, incorporating them into funds, and tokenizing profit rights to supply to the on-chain market, thereby connecting traditional finance with on-chain finance.

Yield 8 is a representative product showcasing this RWA business. It tokenizes the profit rights of the "Kaia Multi-Asset Yield Fund" managed in Singapore, allowing them to be utilized on-chain. The investment portfolio, which started with three at launch, has now expanded to eight or nine.

Investment aimed at STO has also begun early. KIP has been nurturing companies that promote STO projects or securing related portfolios through equity investments for several years. When the domestic STO system is fully established, it plans to showcase suitable assets as actual products in collaboration with financial companies.

Lee emphasized, "For several years, we have been directly conducting STO projects or nurturing related companies and making equity investments. If the conditions are established in Korea, we plan to actively support the launch of STO products at KIP."

"The activation of the domestic STO market ultimately depends on good products"

He pointed out that the key factor determining the success or failure of the domestic STO market is 'product competitiveness.' He believes that even if the system and trading infrastructure are established, there will be limitations to market activation if there are not enough attractive products to draw in investors.

He stated, "For the domestic STO platform to succeed, there must be special and good products that have not been commonly encountered before. There should be many products that are easy for investors to understand, have good returns, and can manage risks for STO trading to become active."

For this reason, KIP is placing emphasis on discovering good underlying assets in its RWA business. Securing assets with investment value and tokenizing them according to regulations in each country to connect them to new investment products is explained as a competitive advantage.

Lee remarked, "Ultimately, what matters is discovering good assets. We are continuously creating ways to tokenize them according to the regulations of each country using our experience and partners and deliver them to investors."

"Domestic investors alone have limitations... a pathway for foreign funds is needed"

Along with product competitiveness, the accessibility of foreign investors is also cited as a challenge that the domestic STO market must address. He believes that even if good assets are tokenized, if there is no easy pathway for foreign investors to invest, there will be limitations to market expansion.

Lee pointed out, "There may be limitations in accepting only domestic investors. The market itself can grow only if foreign investors come in."

To this end, he believes that pathways for capital inflow using digital assets such as dollar and won stablecoins and tokenized deposits must be established. He explained that channels connecting domestic STO products with foreign investment funds must be established to fully leverage the advantages of tokenization.

He added, "Even if there are good assets in Korea, there are cases where there is no proper channel for foreign investors to invest. If good STO products come out, we need to create rails for foreign investors to enter Korea as well."

He continued, "We need to create channels for domestic and foreign funds to flow in using dollar and won stablecoins or tokenized deposits. Only when good products and capital inflow pathways are established can the domestic STO market grow."

"Initial constraints exist, but... we will lay the foundation for growth through STO launches"

However, he predicted that even if the domestic STO market is launched, it will not be easy to expand into on-chain finance based on public blockchains immediately. Initially, it is likely that product issuance and trading will occur within a limited environment under the regulatory framework.

Nevertheless, he believes that the launch of STO products can serve as an opportunity for portfolio companies to broaden their connections with the regulated financial market and expand their businesses.

Lee stated, "In the beginning, there may be limitations in directly connecting with public blockchains or on-chain finance, but the launch of STO products can be an important milestone for the company to grow to the next level."

He added, "While continuing existing businesses, we plan to actively support related portfolios to launch STO products in Korea at KIP."

To this end, KIP has been investing in RWA and STO-related companies while accumulating asset discovery experience and has been expanding its collaboration scope with domestic and foreign financial companies and tokenization and distribution infrastructure companies. The strategy is to secure the necessary experience and partnerships from asset discovery to tokenization and productization before the market fully opens, thereby gaining competitiveness.

Lee concluded, "While on-chain finance is rapidly growing in the global market, KIP has been accumulating experience in tokenizing real assets and managing them on-chain through Yield 8. Our strength lies in the fact that we have not just been waiting for the domestic market to open but have accumulated experience and methodologies through actual business."

He expressed his desire to work closely with domestic financial companies preparing for STO and on-chain finance, emphasizing, "I hope to collaborate with more financial companies in line with institutionalization and present good products to the market."