Ben Strack

Korean financial giant Mirae Asset Securities is teaming up with Polygon Labs to support the growth of tokenized securities networks.



The move comes as more institutions have launched initiatives in the segment. Polygon Labs is set to be a “technical consultant” in the Mirae Asset Security Token Working Group, the companies revealed Wednesday.&nbsp;



The consortium will focus on building the infrastructure for tokenized securities platforms, as well as the technology needed to issue and distribute tokenized securities.



Ahn In-sung, head of Mirae’s digital division, said in a statement that the company seeks to establish “global leadership in the field of tokenized securities.&#8221;



Mirae Asset Securities is a subsidiary of Mirae Asset Financial Group, which had $565 billion in assets under management as of June.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Its latest working group is separate from the security token consortium — called Next Finance Initiative (NFI) — that Mirae became a part of with SK Telecom, Hana Financial Group, and others, in June.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“[Mirae’s] foray into tokenization will undoubtedly help accelerate the mass adoption of web3 among other financial institutions,” Polygon Labs Executive Chair Sandeep Nailwal added in a statement. “At the same time, Mirae’s initiatives will also greatly contribute to establishing interoperability between South Korea’s domestic financial systems and their foreign counterparts.”



A spokesperson for the companies did not comment on the specifics of planned initiatives.&nbsp;



The partnership comes as a range of financial institutions have embarked on various tokenization initiatives in recent years. <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blackrock-ceo-us-lagging-innovation-tokenization">BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has touted tokenizing assets</a>, noting its potential to drive efficiencies in capital markets.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/real-world-assets-tradfi-defi-tokenization">TradFi, DeFi convergence continues through tokenizing real-world assets</a>



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jpmorgan-trade-on-public-blockchain-monumental-step-for-defi">JPMorgan used the Polygon blockchain</a> to trade tokenized Japanese yen last year as part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Guardian pilot. DBS Bank and SBI Digital Asset also participated in the program.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Last year, Hamilton Lane partnered with digital asset securities firm Securitize to make three of its funds available <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/private-markets-investment-firm-hamilton-lane-to-tokenize-3-funds">via tokenized feeder funds</a>. More recently, Securitize bought digital asset wealth platform Onramp Investors to offer <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/securitize-ria-market-tokenization-growth">tokenized alternatives to the registered investment adviser (RIA) market</a>.



Executives at WisdomTree, a fund group that manages nearly $100 billion in assets, said in July they intend <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/wisdomtree-blockchain-native-app">to capitalize on the firm’s “early mover status in tokenization”</a> after launching <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blockchain-wisdomtree-app">a blockchain-enabled consumer app</a> in July.



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Mirae Asset

Korean finance giant links up with Polygon Labs on tokenized securities

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_622623f1e5b17" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Staff will go from 170 to 350 full-time employees over the next year, co-founder Robbie Ferguson told Blockworks</li>
 <li>Immutable raised $60 million in Series B funding in September</li>
 </ul>
 
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Immutable, creator of the NFT-focused layer-2 scaling protocol Immutable X, secured $200 million in Series C funding, launching the Sydney-based startup to a $2.5 billion valuation.



Led by Temasek, investors in the financing round include Animoca Brands, Tencent, ParaFi Capital, Princeville Capital, Arrington Capital, Mirae Asset and Liberty Global.



King River Capital, Prosus Ventures, AirTree Ventures, Declaration Partners, Fabric Ventures, Possible Ventures and Alameda Research all raised their existing investments in Immutable.



&#8220;We&#8217;ll be growing from 170 to 350 people over the next year — investing in a global partnerships and gaming advisory team and tripling our product and engineering teams,” Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Immutable, told Blockworks.



Immutable made headlines in October for creating Immutable X, which powered TikTok’s NFT (non-fungible token) collection. It was billed as the first layer-2 protocol on Ethereum that allowed instant trading and zero gas fees, which often served as a roadblock for minting NFTs.



Earlier this month, Immutable announced a $100 million joint fund with GameStop for blockchain gaming startups.



The company was founded in 2018 by brothers Robbie and James Ferguson.



“In 2017, we saw NFTs come out with CryptoPunks and [my brother and I] said, ‘This is it,’” Robbie said. “This is going to be massive because there is more uniquely ownable stuff in the world than there is currencies. The ability to have digital property rights is going to be the most important thing.”



In its early years, Immutable was known for creating “<a href="https://godsunchained.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gods Unchained</a>,” which Robbie described as “the first multiplayer game with NFTs on Ethereum, [all] completely on-chain.”



The company has since expanded, launching tokens such as IMX in September, which sold out on CoinList in under an hour and raised over $12.5 million.



That same month, Immutable <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/layer-2-solution-immutable-closes-60m-series-b-round/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> a $60 million Series B funding round to boost NFT trading. BITKRAFT Ventures and King River Capital co-led the round, with participation from Alameda Research, Galaxy Interactive, VaynerFund and Apex Capital.



Along with the Monday announcement, Immutable announced new C-suite hires such as former Riot Games exec Justin Hulog. The startup also tapped ex-Shutterfly chief marketing officer, John Boris, as its chief growth officer.



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