We’re partnering with FairSquare Lab, a technology partner to Korean banks and securities firms and the lead of Project Pangea. DFNS provides the platform. FairSquare Lab brings Sphere, its institutional wallet and custody platform built on DFNS, and the experience to deploy it inside Korea’s regulatory environment. Together, the aim is to give Korean institutions the layer they need inside their own walls.
FairSquare Lab, digital asset infrastructure for Korean finance
Founded in 2018, FairSquare Lab builds financial infrastructure connecting traditional finance and blockchain technology, with a focus on stablecoins, tokenized securities, and settlement. Its portfolio spans the digital asset stack: Assetrum, its digital asset platform; Sphere, its institutional wallet and custody platform; custody through KDAC; and onchain intelligence through its subsidiary Kloint. FairSquare Lab provides technology to Korean banks and securities firms, including as the sole blockchain technology provider to the KDX consortium of the Korea Exchange, Koscom, and 23 securities firms.
FairSquare Lab recently received TI-1, the highest investment-grade rating from an accredited Korean Technology Credit Bureau. The grade is typically reserved for companies with internationally recognized technology strengths, and confirms the depth of FairSquare Lab’s engineering and its ability to commercialize it.
FairSquare Lab leads Project Pangea, a stablecoin-based cross-border FX settlement initiative bringing together nearly 50 financial institutions across Korea and Europe. Introduced in June with Chainlink, UniKA, and Qivalis, Pangea is evaluating real-time settlement between regulated euro and future regulated won stablecoins, as an alternative to T+2 settlement through correspondent banks. FairSquare Lab builds the settlement layer: an FX automated market maker based on its own research, running on a dedicated settlement network, the Pangea L1.
In Korea, FairSquare Lab holds a seat on the steering committee of UniKA, the alliance of more than ten Korean commercial banks preparing for won stablecoins. On the European side, Qivalis brings a euro stablecoin consortium backed by 37 European banks. FairSquare Lab also co-founded KDAC, Korea’s first dedicated digital asset custodian, together with leading Korean banks, and its CEO, Joonhong Kim, also serves as KDAC’s co-CEO.
Why Korean institutions need an operating layer
Korean banks and securities firms are preparing to offer digital asset services as Korea’s rules for stablecoins, tokenized securities, and digital asset custody take shape. Since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect, the bar for safeguarding customer assets has risen. At the same time, Korean banks operate under strict electronic finance requirements, including network segregation and keeping data within Korea.
Doing digital assets on a regulated balance sheet takes more than a wallet. An institution has to know how it holds digital assets, under whose approval a transaction executes, within what limits, screened by what controls, and evidenced how, when its supervisor asks.
That is the layer DFNS brings. Our core banking platform provides the accounts and wallets in which an institution holds assets, the transaction lifecycle that executes and tracks every operation, the treasury tooling that manages multi-currency balances across chains, the policy engine that enforces approval quorums, limits, allowlists, and screening before anything signs, and the complete audit trail that turns operations into evidence. Keys are protected by MPC, which never assembles a full key in one place, or by client-controlled HSMs. DFNS acts strictly as a technology provider, control stays with each institution.
Sphere: built on DFNS, built for Korea
FairSquare Lab has integrated DFNS into Sphere and has begun building wallet and custody infrastructure with several Korean financial institutions, designed to run in their own environments.
- Deployment that fits the institution. Sphere supports on-premises, hybrid, and cloud deployment. On-premises, signing nodes and key shares sit inside the bank’s own data center and integrate with the bank’s HSMs, so keys and signing infrastructure never leave the institution’s control.
- Built for segregated networks. Offline signing lets transactions be approved in environments separated from the internet, meeting Korea’s network segregation requirements.
- Data stays in Korea. Wallet and transaction data can be kept within Korea without passing through overseas cloud infrastructure.
- Internal controls built in. Approval policies and sign-off workflows reflect each institution’s internal control framework, with a full audit trail.
- A path from non-custodial to custodial. Institutions can start with non-custodial wallets and extend to custody as Korea’s regulatory framework develops.
- Independently audited. Sphere holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications.
FairSquare Lab brings the Korean side of the work: Sphere, hands-on experience with Korean financial institutions and their security and compliance requirements, and local integration and support. DFNS provides the underlying platform and the engineering depth behind it.
What institutions get
For institutions, that means one platform to:
- Hold and move digital assets in institutional accounts and wallets
- Enforce approvals, limits, and screening before anything signs, with a full audit trail
- Deploy as SaaS, hybrid, or on-premises, including in segregated networks
- Connect to the core banking, compliance, and screening systems they already run
“For financial institutions to start a digital asset business, they need both global-grade security technology and an operating environment that fits Korean regulation,” said Joonhong Kim, CEO of FairSquare Lab. “By combining DFNS’s MPC technology, proven at global financial institutions, with FairSquare Lab’s institutional custody infrastructure, we will build digital asset wallet and custody infrastructure designed for Korea’s regulatory environment.”
“Korea is a market where digital asset regulation is being shaped around banks, and where security requirements such as network segregation are strict,” said Felix Eigelshoven, Head of APAC at DFNS. “We’re glad to work with FairSquare Lab, which understands this environment deeply, to give Korean banks an operating layer for digital assets they can trust.”
Together, the two companies aim to give Korean institutions a practical starting point for digital assets: infrastructure they can operate, control, and evidence, with room to add services as Korea’s framework develops.
Get started
- Learn more about FairSquare Lab: fairsquarelab.com
- Learn more about onchain core banking: dfns.co
- Explore the platform and documentation: docs.dfns.co
- For institutions in Korea, talk to FairSquare Lab: contact@fairsquarelab.com
- For everything else, talk to DFNS: sales@dfns.co
