ATON said on the 22nd that after successfully completing a proof of concept (PoC) for security token offerings (STOs) settlement based on stablecoins, it finished developing the digital asset issuance and operations platform solution "VANTAGE" used in the PoC and will expand its application beyond finance into the AI commerce arena.
VANTAGE is a B2B platform that enables financial institutions and corporations to issue and operate their own brand-based digital assets (such as won-pegged stablecoins). It integrates core functions needed to run digital asset services, including user authentication, wallet creation, won conversion, payment and refunds, and transaction history management.
As demand grows for M2M payments, in which AI agents access APIs and digital services directly to make automatic payments, stablecoin-based payment infrastructure is drawing attention. The "x402" protocol is a standard designed to let AI agents use stablecoins for instant payment and settlement.
ATON said VANTAGE was designed with scalability so it can connect with global AI payment standards such as x402. The company believes that, compared with existing financial systems, Blockchain-based digital asset services can connect more flexibly with AI agents and therefore are suited to AI commerce in terms of immediacy and global use. It also plans to pursue applying ISO 20022, the international financial messaging standard.
ATON has been verifying commercial applicability by conducting multiple proofs of concept (PoCs) with banks and card companies based on VANTAGE. It successfully completed a PoC with NH NongHyup Bank and Musicow on a K-pop content-based won-pegged stablecoin–security token offerings (STOs) convergence model, confirming technical and operational suitability across the entire process from STO issuance and investor subscription to stablecoin-based payments, settlement, and rights management.
It also conducted a "Blockchain-based P2P payments" PoC with Shinhan Card, verifying the technical feasibility of next-generation payment models such as direct customer–merchant payments (W2W) via stablecoins. The PoC was one of six core technology initiatives Shinhan Card pursued with global Web3.0 companies including Visa, Mastercard, and Solana, and ATON participated as a main technology partner by providing VANTAGE.
It is also moving to strengthen security technology. ATON has the "QuantumSafe" series, a Quantum-resistant Encryption (PQC) solution that applies the ML-KEM algorithm adopted as a standard by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It has secured references for supplying PQC solutions across various industries, including Suhyup Bank, Meritz Securities, Mirae Asset Securities, and Bithumb.
An ATON official said, "VANTAGE is composed of function-specific modules and, by being offered in a semi-finished form, can reduce the time and expense required to build digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions and large corporations that need on-premises systems," adding, "Based on integration technology and security capabilities accumulated through various financial sector validations, we will provide a reliable digital asset technology infrastructure."