[Interview] “Tokenization alone is not enough… The future of finance lies in ‘Coordination’”

The integration of blockchain and traditional finance is no longer confined to the experimental stage. Core institutions of the U.S. securities settlement infrastructure—DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and other global financial institutions—have begun rolling out blockchain-based financial infrastructure in real operational environments, and “on-chain finance” is rapidly moving toward the next phase of the market.

At the center of this transformation is the global finance-dedicated blockchain network, “Canton Network.” Canton is not just a public chain; it is a network designed to simultaneously meet the privacy, compliance, and interoperability requirements demanded by financial institutions. In recent times, use cases for on-chain applications of physical financial assets—such as U.S. Treasuries, Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs), tokenized deposits, and money market funds (MMFs)—have been expanding rapidly.

On the 14th, TokenPost interviewed Thomas Cho, Head of Growth for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region at the Canton Foundation, at the TokenPost office in Gangnam, Seoul. He previously worked at Meta, TikTok, and Aptos, and currently leads the expansion of the Asian market at the Canton Foundation.

In the interview, he highly praised South Korea’s relatively high readiness for digital finance and the possibility of policy changes, and concluded that “South Korea is one of the markets where on-chain finance can enter the real service stage the fastest.”

In particular, he emphasized that “coordination” is a more important concept than mere “tokenization.” He explained that putting assets on-chain alone is meaningless; only when assets can be connected in real time and put to use across different financial institutions, markets, and countries can genuine financial innovation be achieved.

Previously, on the 13th, Thomas Cho (the overall head) also shared a related vision at a global on-chain finance event hosted by TokenPost. The event details can be found in TokenPost’s articles.

“South Korea is moving toward the implementation stage… also the fastest in Asia”

Thomas Cho (the overall head) said that over the past few months, he has continued meeting with South Korean financial institutions. Traditional finance participants—asset management firms, insurance companies, infrastructure operators, and others—have moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage and are discussing the possibilities for actual deployment.

He said, “When I first came to South Korea, it was mainly about introducing technology and concepts. Now we’re in the stage of discussing ‘how to implement it in practice.’ Compared with the entire Asian market, South Korea is moving quite quickly in on-chain finance.”

Especially, as recent discussions on digital asset regulations become more formalized, attitudes in the financial sector are also changing. He pointed out, “South Korea is a country where, once the policy direction is set, the market pushes forward at a very fast pace. In the Web2 era, after data privacy policies were improved, the platform industry also experienced explosive growth. Digital assets are very likely to see a similar trend.”

“From Web2 to Web3… ultimately, it’s curiosity about the monetary system”

Thomas Cho (the overall head) said that since his time at Meta and TikTok, he has developed an enduring connection with the South Korean market. He participated in building growth and profitability strategies for Instagram in South Korea in its early days, and later moved into the Web3 industry—experiencing wallet business based on Aptos and large-scale user onboarding projects.

He describes his career as a “Career Jungle Gym.”

“Advertising, social media, e-commerce, content… in the end, everything is connected to finance. My curiosity about how money moves and how value is exchanged led me to Web3.”

He also specifically mentioned the Diem project he encountered during the Meta era, which greatly sparked his interest in digital currencies and blockchain.

However, he also candidly expressed skepticism about the Web3 market at the time. He said, “There was too much noise and too many scam projects in the Web3 industry. At one point, I even considered leaving the industry. But Canton Network is building actual financial infrastructure, and the team has more than ten years of experience developing financial systems on Wall Street—this gave me confidence.”

He added, “I thought: if even Canton can’t succeed, then probably no one else can solve this problem.”

“The core of Canton is privacy… a path different from public chains”

He explained that Canton Network was designed from the outset to serve financial institutions.

Canton’s co-founders include financial experts with backgrounds in Wall Street, specialists in the intersection of Web3 and finance, and early contributors to zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology.

He said, “From about ten years ago, we realized that the financial system would ultimately connect through blockchain. But we judged that, using only the existing public chain structures, it would be difficult to meet the privacy and compliance requirements that financial institutions need.”

He emphasized, “Canton’s core design is to allow network participants to connect with one another while still preserving the data and transaction privacy of each institution.”

He believes that when financial institutions assess blockchain infrastructure, the two most important factors are technical strength and trustworthiness.

“You can’t just have good technology. You must understand the business structures and regulatory environment that financial institutions truly need. Canton’s advantage is that the founding team has both financial backgrounds and practical experience from Wall Street networks.”

“Tokenization alone is meaningless… the core is connectivity and collateral liquidity”

Throughout the interview, Thomas Cho (the overall head) repeatedly used the term “coordination (Co-ordination).”

He explained, “Simply tokenizing assets is meaningless. Tokenized assets must be able to move and be used in real time across different financial institutions, countries, and markets.”

The core concept he stressed is “collateral mobility (Collateral Mobility).”

For example, if Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) are tokenized and connected to the U.S. Treasury system, then Japanese investors can use Japanese Government Bonds as collateral to trade U.S. assets, and vice versa—U.S. investors can also use Japanese assets as collateral.

He said, “The interconnection level of financial markets is far beyond what people imagine. What used to be impossible due to differences in trading hours, intermediaries, and system boundaries across countries becomes possible within a blockchain-based coordination structure.”

He added, “If interoperability means the ability to connect, then coordination is closer to enabling real financial activity while maintaining that connection state.”

“DTCC, JPMorgan Chase are already operating… not experiments, but real financial infrastructure”

Canton Network has already been applied together with global financial institutions in real operational environments.

He used DTCC as an example to illustrate.

DTCC is the core institution of the U.S. Treasury and securities settlement system, and it currently processes around $90 trillion per month in repurchase (Repo) transactions based on Canton Network.

Thomas Cho (the overall head) said, “More importantly, what happens next. As far as I know, DTCC is also preparing to launch services that can scale into the retail space.”

He added that the Japanese market is moving in a similar direction. “There are currently discussions about using Japanese Government Bonds as on-chain collateral and providing new types of financial services on that basis. In the end, the core is to create a financial environment where an asset can move and be used 24 hours a day.”

Looking ahead, he believes this trend could, in the long run, change the structure of global financial markets themselves.

“In the South Korean market, the areas attracting the most attention are MMFs, tokenized deposits, and stablecoins”

Canton Foundation is currently paying special attention to three main areas in the South Korean market.

First is tokenization of money market funds (MMFs).

He said, “At present, MMFs are limited in real-time collateral usage due to the T+1 settlement structure. Through tokenization, this kind of low efficiency can be reduced significantly.”

Second is tokenized deposits (Tokenized Deposit).

“South Korea’s financial industry is also very likely to use tokenized deposits in securities settlement and collateral systems in the future.”

Third is stablecoins and cross-border payment infrastructure.

He explained, “Currently, each country’s payment system operates on its own. Canton’s advantage is that it can connect different assets and systems while protecting privacy.”

He added, “If there is a real-time exchange structure between tokenized base assets of the South Korean won and overseas assets, it could bring substantial changes.”

“The trigger for the mass adoption of on-chain finance ultimately comes down to policy”

When asked when on-chain finance will enter a truly mass adoption stage, he answered, “Ultimately, policy is the biggest variable.”

He said, “The technology is already ready. What remains is the speed at which policies and the institutional framework are improved.”

He particularly evaluated how recent policy changes in the U.S. are quickly changing the global market atmosphere.

“In the past, policy authorities observed the market, but now they are beginning to actively think about how to incorporate digital assets into the existing financial framework.”

He commented that South Korea is not only watching, but also considering an independent financial infrastructure strategy.

“South Korea is not simply following the U.S. system; it has moves underway to build its own financial coordination layer.”

He also forecast, “I think that at the fastest, within this year, the South Korean market could see meaningful pilot cases. By early next year, the market may develop at an even faster pace.”

“It’s no longer in the experimental stage… a new monetary system is being opened”

In closing the interview, he also conveyed a message to South Korea’s blockchain community.

He emphasized, “Over the past ten years, countless projects have talked about institutional adoption, but there haven’t been many real operational cases. The difference with Canton is that it has already been running in real production environments with institutions such as DTCC, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC.”

However, he also clearly pointed out that it is still in an early stage.

“From the perspective of traditional finance, it’s only just beginning. But one thing is certain: a new monetary system is being created.”

He continued, “South Korea is also very likely to become one of the core markets for this transformation. The Canton Foundation looks forward to working with South Korean institutions and the community to help build the next generation of financial infrastructure.”

※ This interview was conducted on May 14, 2026, at the TokenPost office in Gangnam, Seoul.