"DSRV aims to become the infrastructure partner of financial institutions that combine technological capability with regulatory trust."
Jeong Ji-yoon, DSRV chief operating officer (COO), said that when the era of won-based stablecoins arrives, DSRV can become a Blockchain infrastructure partner. Founded in Sep. 2019, DSRV is a Web3 financial infrastructure corporations. In the early days, it began business as a validator on major Blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Solana and Cosmos. It has grown into a validator that operates Blockchain networks in more than 70 countries worldwide and manages more than 4 trillion won in asset.
DSRV is expanding its business by launching an on-chain (on-Blockchain network) finance "Portal" service that helps corporations and financial institutions operate Blockchain-based financial services. Portal is an institutional platform that provides wallets, tokenization, stablecoin payment and settlement, custody, and staking so that financial institutions and corporations can operate on-chain financial services without building Blockchain infrastructure themselves.
After graduating from the Department of Information and Communication Engineering at Hanbat National University, Jeong worked at Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK)(024110) Fintech Division and NHN(181710) Payments Policy Office. Jeong then served as head of the Digital Finance Headquarters at Daol Investment & Securities(030210). The following is a Q&A with Jeong.
─What led you to create the Portal service.
"Many corporations are interested in Blockchain businesses, but the technical and operational burden of building them directly has been heavy. For financial institutions in particular, it is not enough for the technology to simply work. For a corporation to offer a Blockchain-based service, it needs functions such as wallets, payments, token issuance, asset custody, security and fee processing, but building these directly takes a long time and requires specialists.
Portal is a service that allows corporations to use these functions right away. Corporations focus on their own customer services and business models, while DSRV handles the complex Blockchain infrastructure."
─Why should financial institutions use Portal.
"Won stablecoins, security token offerings (STO), and point tokenization are being discussed as priorities in the financial sector. To implement such businesses directly, you must have everything from key management, smart contracts (Blockchain-based contract execution), wallets, security and internal controls to regulatory response. It is not enough to have technology; you must build a system that can actually operate.
The advantage of Portal is that it provides this part as already-prepared infrastructure. Client companies can reduce build time and expense while using the security, authorization, approval and audit systems needed for institutional operations together. We are currently conducting proof of concept (PoC) and introduction talks with financial institutions, payment companies and point operators."
─You drew attention as Korea's first preliminary Blockchain listing candidate.
"We are reviewing an initial public offering (IPO) over the mid to long term. The specific timing and method must be assessed based on market conditions and the maturity of the company's business. What DSRV is currently focusing on is not listing, but creating clear value for actual customers in each business area and building a repeatable revenue base. The priority is to first strengthen the company's fundamentals in terms of product, customers, revenue and internal controls."
─Have there been any difficulties.
"It took a long time to persuade people that Blockchain technology can be used as real industrial infrastructure. The mood has changed now. Areas such as stablecoins, tokenization and virtual asset custody are being discussed seriously in the financial sector. However, heightened interest does not mean Blockchain technology will be introduced into industrial infrastructure right away.
Financial institutions must go through regulatory reviews, internal decision-making, security reviews and risk management procedures. Market expectations are growing quickly, but actual introduction into the institutional system has to proceed cautiously. DSRV sees this period as a time to build the product's completeness and trust."
─What are DSRV's future goals.
"In the short term, it is to make Portal the standard infrastructure that domestic financial institutions and corporations consider first when they start Blockchain-based businesses. Going forward, we will see an environment where people do not conduct every transaction themselves and an "artificial intelligence (AI) agent" perceives situations on its own and autonomously executes contracts, payments and settlements.
What will be needed then is reliable wallet, payment and asset management infrastructure. Within this trend, our goal is to become the financial-institution infrastructure partner that combines technological capability with regulatory trust."