"When the internet was first rolled out, the companies that laid the pipes led the era. Wavebridge is now laying the pipes of Korea's digital finance. In 10 years, when Korean corporations invest in and conduct transactions with the world using virtual asset, the infrastructure that enables that flow will be Wavebridge."
Wavebridge operates the infrastructure that institutions and corporations must go through when they seek to enter the virtual asset market. The foundation of Wavebridge's business is prime brokerage. Prime brokerage is a service that manages the transaction, custody, and settlement of virtual asset for corporations and institutions such as asset managers, financial institutions, and high-net-worth asset. By analogy to a bank, it is similar to private banking (a customized asset management service for high-net-worth individuals).
Chief Executive Oh Jong-uk of Wavebridge graduated from the industrial engineering department at KAIST, worked at Mirae Asset Global Investments and Samsung Asset Management, and founded the Fintech startup QARAsoft. He operated an artificial intelligence (AI)–based robo-advisor service and, after recouping investment capital, founded Wavebridge again in 2018. The following is a Q&A with Oh.
─ Recently started virtual asset custody.
"Just as a retail investor can do everything with a single exchange app, institutions handle everything through a single prime broker. The foundation of all these functions is ultimately custody. If asset are not safely stored, transaction, settlement, and risk management are meaningless. For all services of prime brokerage to operate, there must be reliable custody at the base. Custody must be the foundation to safely layer transaction, settlement, and payment infrastructure on top."
─ Are there services currently underway or completed?
"We have begun custody for 11 stablecoins across six currency zones, including the U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen, Singapore dollar, Brazilian real, and Australian dollar. We plan to expand step by step to stablecoins based on the Mexican peso and Hong Kong dollar.
We also provide services linked to the issuance of the USDG stablecoin with Paxos, and we are operating as the first domestic custody provider on the Canton Network, which includes more than 600 global institutions such as Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, HSBC, and DTCC.
We are also carrying out joint projects with domestic financial institutions. We are collaborating with major domestic financial institutions and card companies on six proofs of concept (PoC), including a card company's digital-asset payment system, prime brokerage for spot bitcoin ETFs, and on-site payment services for foreign tourists. When the Digital Asset Basic Act is refined, we can immediately transition from the pilot stage to commercial services."
The Canton Network is a Blockchain network joined by more than 600 global institutions, including Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas. Canton's monthly tokenized transaction volume reaches $8 trillion (about 12,000 trillion won).
─ How will the structure of trade settlement change if corporations use stablecoins?
"Currently, for domestic corporations to send payment to a counterparty in Singapore, they must go through three steps. They exchange won for dollars, send it through the international remittance network, and then exchange it again for Singapore dollars in Singapore. Fees are added at each step, and it can take up to three days to arrive. It gets longer if a weekend is involved. Using stablecoins reduces this process to one step. Arrival takes minutes, fees are significantly reduced, and it is available 24/7, 365 days a year.
Starting custody for 11 types this time meets the first condition of this structure. We have opened infrastructure that can safely receive and store stablecoins of any currency, and exchange them into another currency to send when needed. In Korea, virtual asset are not yet recognized as foreign exchange or a means of payment. We are in the stage of co-designing and piloting the infrastructure with the financial sector. We are preparing to activate it immediately when it becomes institutionalized."
─ What will be Wavebridge's role after the enactment of the Digital Asset Basic Act?
"Broadly, it is infrastructure building, treasury asset management systems, and asset management. When corporations conduct transactions with overseas counterparties using stablecoins, Wavebridge will provide the exchange, custody, and settlement infrastructure operating behind the scenes. Card companies can add stablecoin processing functions to their own payment networks, and banks can add a 24-hour on-chain (Blockchain-based network) settlement option to foreign exchange remittance products.
When corporations seek to hold and manage bitcoin or stablecoins as treasury asset, we also provide a system that can handle everything on a single platform, from custody to transaction execution, risk management, and accounting."
─ What are Wavebridge's future goals?
"Our goal is to provide infrastructure that allows institutions and corporations to handle virtual asset operations in one place, in step with the pace at which the Digital Asset Basic Act is refined. Just as traditional banks take deposits and layer lending, exchange, and remittances on top, Wavebridge takes virtual asset and layers custody, exchange, settlement, and management on top. Helping institutions and corporations handle everything they need in the virtual asset market safely and efficiently is why Wavebridge was founded."