This article was published on Aug. 22, 2025, at 10:54 a.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Lucent Block, which operates the real estate token securities (STO) platform 'Ownership,' has confirmed that it has chosen to become an over-the-counter exchange for fractional investment (trust securities). According to financial authority regulations, STO platforms will in the future only be allowed to focus on issuance or distribution.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 22nd, Lucent Block recently decided in an internal meeting to apply for a license for investment brokerage related to the distribution of trust securities instead of issuance. Accordingly, it plans to aim for acquiring the newly established investment brokerage license for trust securities distribution, which the Financial Services Commission is expected to introduce by Sept. 30. The Financial Supervisory Service will be responsible for the examination, and if the full license is obtained, Lucent Block will be recognized as a financial investment business.
Lucent Block plans to create a distribution platform where not only real estate but also other fractional investment products can be bought and sold. A Lucent Block official noted that "the goal of the startup was to create a platform where transactions could be conducted like stocks by lowering the threshold for trading physical assets from the beginning under the philosophy of 'opportunities for all to own,'" adding, "As we have developed know-how and core technological capabilities based on the most subscriptions and customers during the innovative financial service (sandbox) period, we aim to focus on distribution and further enhance our core technological capabilities."
Founded by CEO Heo Se-young in Daejeon in 2018, Lucent Block operates the platform 'Ownership,' which allows fractional investment in high-value commercial real estate. In 2021, it was the first non-capital area venture company designated in the Financial Services Commission's sandbox and was re-designated in 2023. In November 2023, it secured 15 billion won through Series B investment. At that time, Hana Ventures, Hana Securities, the Industrial Bank of Korea, and Kyobo Securities participated. The cumulative investment amount is 34 billion won.
The reason the industry is paying attention to Lucent Block's decision is that most fractional investment companies are choosing issuance rather than distribution. Companies that have operated fractional investment businesses through the sandbox system have performed both token securities issuance and distribution tasks. However, as financial authorities have implemented the principle of separating issuance and distribution to prevent conflicts of interest, most, including Casa, Funble, and Musicow, opted for an issuance platform license.
The Financial Services Commission announced in February that it would introduce a legislative notice for a revised enforcement decree that establishes investment brokerage licensing units for the issuance of trust securities, forecasting the institutionalization of distribution platforms by the end of September.
The licensing units for investment brokerage that can operate a fractional investment distribution platform are expected to become institutionalized similarly to the non-listed stock distribution platform of Dunamu, including licensing requirements, business standards, unsound business practices, and revenue disclosure exceptions. However, products that can be traded on the distribution platform are limited to real estate and music copyright trust securities. Investment contract securities for artworks and Hanwoo fractional investment products are restricted from secondary trading.