OP Labs, the developer behind the layer-2 blockchain Optimism, is actively engaging with over 200 financial institutions globally, signaling a growing interest in blockchain technology for streamlining financial processes and creating new investment products. The company views its partnership with Toss and other Korean financial firms as ventures that open doors for global investors.
OP Labs CEO Jing Wang highlighted Korea’s financial literacy and the country’s strategic importance in the blockchain space. The company offers OP Mainnet, a public blockchain, and OP Enterprise, which assists companies in building their own blockchain networks. Both are supported by the open-source OP Stack framework, designed for creating Ethereum-based layer-2 chains. Wang stated that companies ultimately need to control their own blockchain infrastructure to manage fees and recovery times independently.
Optimism has been involved in several proof-of-concept projects in Korea. With Toss, the company explored a system for processing gift voucher payments and merchant settlements as a single, private blockchain transaction. This project also investigated the potential of a Korean won-denominated stablecoin. Wang believes a stablecoin project offers significant opportunities not only for the domestic market but also for overseas investors.
In collaboration with KB Securities and global tokenization platform Securitize, Optimism is also developing a tokenized fund business for institutional investors. They plan to tokenize money market funds initially, with future expansion to shares, American depositary receipts, and various bonds. Optimism provides the necessary transaction and settlement infrastructure for this initiative. Wang emphasized that automating fund subscriptions and redemptions, which can currently take days, could be reduced to seconds through this technology. He also noted the OP Stack’s flexibility in adapting to regulatory changes, allowing partners to respond quickly to shifts in the regulatory environment.
Further collaborations include a project with DB Securities to tokenize real-world assets in Jeju, such as smart farms, livestock, and intellectual property. Optimism aims to create infrastructure for Security Token Offerings (STOs) and real-world asset tokenization. Wang suggested that blockchain technology can unlock investment opportunities in smaller assets that are traditionally difficult to trade in conventional financial markets.
Optimism recently launched “Upgrade 20,” an enhancement to its Fault Proof system. This upgrade is designed to facilitate secure asset transfers between blockchains without relying on external bridge services, addressing security concerns related to past blockchain hacks. OP Labs is also expanding its local presence by hiring business and engineering staff in Korea and Japan to provide technical support in local languages and time zones. Chief Business Officer Kyle Jenke stated that the firm’s primary investment is in its people, aiming to support Korean companies in distributing their financial products and services globally.
The company’s efforts in Korea include Dunamu, the operator of the Upbit exchange, which has developed its own layer-2 blockchain, GIWA, using the OP Stack. GIWA, utilizing OP Enterprise’s self-hosted model, has processed approximately 100 million transactions on its testnet.
The broader trend of financial institutions adopting blockchain for payments, settlement, and new investment products is evident. Optimism’s work with various partners demonstrates the potential for automating workflows and bringing previously inaccessible assets to market.
