K-Pop Goes On-Chain: How Korean Music IP Is Emerging as the Next STO and RWA Frontier
Korean pop music is no longer just a cultural export — it is increasingly being treated as a financial asset. Across Korea and global markets, music copyrights and royalty streams are beginning to move on-chain through Security Token Offerings (STOs) and Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization structures. What was once an opaque, illiquid industry is now being reimagined as a transparent, programmable asset class. Several Korea-linked initiatives have already demonstrated that music IP can be structured as tokenized securities, allowing investors to gain exposure to streaming revenues while creators retain ownership and control. These models typically tokenize future royalty cash flows rather than the creative work itself, aligning more closely with regulated financial frameworks. This trend fits naturally within the broader evolution of STOs. Music royalties offer predictable, recurring income, making them structurally similar to bonds or revenue-sharing instruments — an attractive profile for compliant on-chain finance. As regulators focus on investor protection and disclosure, music IP stands out as one of the few cultural assets that can be quantified, audited, and distributed programmatically. Globally, institutional interest in tokenized real-world assets continues to expand beyond real estate and credit into intellectual property. Korean music, powered by the global reach of K-pop, is uniquely positioned within this shift. The combination of strong international demand, digital-native distribution, and measurable cash flows makes music IP a compelling candidate for next-generation tokenization. While full RWA frameworks for cultural assets are still evolving, Korea’s ongoing STO discussions and pilot projects suggest that music could become one of the earliest mainstream use cases. The convergence of entertainment, finance, and blockchain infrastructure is no longer theoretical — it is already underway. K-pop’s next global expansion may not happen on stage, but on-chain.
Visa is expanding USDC stablecoin settlement across the U.S. market, processing over $3.5B in annualized volume. Using Solana for faster settlement, the move signals that stablecoins are no longer experimental — they are becoming part of mainstream payment infrastructure for banks and merchants.
Securitize has launched true on-chain stock trading with full shareholder rights, including voting and dividends. For the first time, equities can be traded and settled directly on blockchain through compliant, self-custodial wallets while maintaining NBBO standards via regulated broker-dealers. This marks a major step beyond tokenized representations toward real on-chain equities.
ADNOC Distribution will begin accepting AE Coin, the UAE’s first central bank–licensed dirham stablecoin, across more than 1,000 service stations. The rollout covers fuel payments, retail purchases, and services across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. This marks one of the largest real-world retail deployments of a regulated stablecoin, bringing blockchain payments directly into everyday commerce.
Solana has reached a record $16.44 billion in stablecoin volume, up 250% year over year. The growth appears steady and structural rather than speculative, signaling rising institutional confidence in Solana as a settlement layer for real-world payments and on-chain finance. Stablecoins are increasingly positioning Solana as a core hub for global liquidity.
Ripple, BitGo, and Paxos have received conditional approval from the U.S. OCC for national trust bank charters, marking a major step toward regulated crypto-native banking. The move could allow these firms to operate under full federal oversight, bridging traditional banking and digital asset infrastructure. Coinbase, Stripe’s Bridge, and Crypto.com have also submitted similar applications, signaling a broader institutional shift.
Pakistan has signed an MoU with Binance to explore a 2 billion dollar asset tokenization initiative, focusing on government bonds, treasury bills, and federal assets. The project will be developed over the next six months, combining Binance’s technical expertise with a compliant blockchain framework. The goal is to improve international investor access and liquidity while maintaining full sovereign oversight.
J.P. Morgan has arranged the first U.S. commercial paper issuance on the Solana blockchain, marking a major milestone for institutional on-chain finance. The transaction involved Galaxy Digital as issuer and Coinbase and Franklin Templeton as buyers, settling entirely in USDC. This is one of the earliest examples of real debt instruments moving onto a public blockchain, opening the door for on-chain money markets and institutional RWA adoption.
Ripple is pursuing a Federal Reserve master account for its RLUSD stablecoin, a move that could enable direct settlement without intermediaries and reshape cross-border payments. The company recently acquired Hidden Road for 1.25 billion dollars, rebranding it as Ripple Prime to expand multi-asset institutional trading services. The development has already influenced global regulators, with Sweden’s Riksbank reportedly shifting its stance on stablecoin oversight in response.
Securitize has received full EU regulatory approval, making it the only company licensed to operate digital securities infrastructure across both the US and EU. The firm will launch its Trading & Settlement System (TSS) on Avalanche, integrating MTF and CSD functions into a single on-chain platform. Securitize also secured passporting rights across major EU markets including Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The first issuance under the new framework is expected early next year.
Visa’s stablecoin settlement volume has reached a 2.5 billion dollar annualized run rate, and the company is now expanding USDC settlement across Central/Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through Aquanow. A clear signal that global payment rails are shifting toward blockchain-based settlement.
The OCC has officially cleared US banks to hold small amounts of crypto directly for network fees and system testing. This removes a major barrier to institutional blockchain adoption and gives banks a defined supervisory framework for risk, controls, and compliance. A significant step toward real on-chain finance across the U.S. banking sector.
#xrp Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is seeing rapid demand as on-chain activity accelerates. Global stablecoin transfers are projected to hit 46 trillion dollars in 2025, surpassing Visa and Mastercard combined. RLUSD has already crossed 1 billion dollars on Ethereum, with rising adoption in B2B settlements and merchant payments. The stablecoin sector is growing 150 percent annually and is quickly becoming a new payment layer for cross-border transactions.