[Edaily Marketin KIM YEON-SEO Reporter] First-generation innovative financial service providers that pioneered the STO (Security Token Offering) market are successively shutting down their services or changing hands. As the market transitions from the pilot phase—based on regulatory exemptions—to the commercialization phase through formal licensing, it is being restructured around companies with strong capital and the ability to supply underlying assets.

According to the financial investment industry on the 5th, major operators designated as “Innovative Financial Services” by the Financial Services Commission for their issuance and distribution services of non-monetary trust beneficiary certificates include Kasa, Funble, Lucent Block, MusicCow, Galaxy MoneyTree, and A-Panda Partners.

Among these, Kasawa and Funble will be discontinuing their services this year. Galaxy F&N, which took over Galaxy Money Tree’s STO business, was sold to IT Sen Global, and A-Panda Partners was acquired by Eight Percent. MusicCow is maintaining its music revenue securities business while participating in the NXT Consortium to prepare for its issuance operations.

Entering the STO Market by Acquiring Existing Business Rights

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, IT Sen Global acquired 277,000 shares of Galaxy F&N from Galaxy Money Tree on the 30th of last month for 1.385 billion won. By securing a 93.27% stake, it became the largest shareholder.

Prior to this, Galaxy Money Tree had designated Galaxy F&N as the entity responsible for its STO business and applied for a license to conduct investment brokerage for revenue securities. Galaxy F&N will be responsible for identifying underlying assets, structuring revenue securities, recruiting investors, and managing products. IT Sen Global is expected to use this foundation to pursue an STO business utilizing real assets such as aircraft engines.

Eight Percent, an online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending company, acquired A-Panda Partners last month and became its largest shareholder. Existing shareholders Shinhan Investment Securities and NH44 also participated in the investment, reorganizing the major shareholders to include Eight Percent, Shinhan Investment Securities, and EQBR.

Given that A-Panda Partners has been pursuing loan-based STOs, the business is expected to expand by combining its efforts with Eight Percent’s capabilities in identifying and evaluating loan assets. This reflects a trend in which new market entrants are acquiring the innovative financial service experience and infrastructure of existing operators to prepare for the post-regulation era.

Real Estate STOs Exit the Market… “Separating the Wheat from the Chaff Among Pilot Operators”

Meanwhile, Casa and Funble, which had pursued real estate STOs, have terminated their services after failing to obtain authorization to act as investment brokers for income securities. This outcome stems from the first-generation real estate fractional investment models—which had operated under regulatory exemptions—failing to meet the capital and personnel requirements for formal authorization.

Kasa will cease platform operations on the 10th. Although Daishin Financial Group acquired management control and a 90% stake in Kasa’s Korean subsidiary in 2023 and pushed forward with initiatives such as linking accounts with Daishin Securities and launching new real estate public offerings, the business had to be suspended after failing to obtain a license for investment brokerage of income securities.

Funble also terminated its platform services on May 14 for the same reason. The license for investment brokerage of income securities is intended to bring fractional investment operators based on non-monetary trusts into the regulatory framework, requiring human and physical resources, including 1 billion won in equity capital.

MusicCow is continuing its business with a focus on music revenue securities. It is expected to expand its product distribution once the infrastructure for an over-the-counter (OTC) secondary market is established.

The market views this restructuring not as a contraction of the STO market, but rather as a process of separating the wheat from the chaff among pilot operators. Analysts note that the industry has entered a phase where survival depends not on whether a company is designated as an “Innovative Financial Service,” but on whether it has secured formal authorization, sufficient capital, and differentiated underlying assets.

An official in the financial investment industry stated, “The non-monetary trust income securities market is transitioning from a phase of testing business models under regulatory exemptions to a phase of obtaining formal authorization and having business viability verified,” adding, “Whether operators under new ownership can proceed to the actual issuance and distribution of products will be the key to the market’s realignment.”