Lee Jae-myung Questions: Stocks Take Two Days to Receive Money? Korean Exchanges Considering Blockchain Trading Implementation

South Korea reviews the T+2 settlement system, with Lee Jae-myung raising questions about real-time settlement. The stock exchange proposes blockchain and tokenization, potentially leading the capital market toward T+0 transformation.

The Korean stock market remains strong, but after February 27, trading was halted for two days due to the Iran war. However, it quickly recovered, and as of press time, it is only 10% below its all-time high. Yet, Korea’s financial sector is re-examining a longstanding trading system over a seemingly simple issue.

President Lee Jae-myung recently pointed out the core contradiction of the current “T+2” settlement mechanism: “Why do you sell stocks today and only get the money the day after tomorrow?” This statement not only highlights efficiency bottlenecks in traditional capital markets but also unexpectedly brings blockchain technology into reform discussions.

Korea Stock Exchange hints at blockchain trading possibilities

Currently, Korea’s stock market still uses a system where funds and securities are settled two business days after the trade is completed. This means investors must wait for funds to be credited even after selling; buyers can make up the payment within a certain period, creating a credit delay in the transaction structure. This mechanism has long been built on complex processes involving clearinghouses, counterparty risk management, and fund allocation, but in the digital and high-speed trading era, it is increasingly seen as inefficient.

In response to these concerns, Korea Exchange Chairman Jeong Eun-woo has stated plans to shorten the settlement cycle and emphasized that they will consider international trends and even proactively implement related reforms. More importantly, the official has explicitly mentioned the potential role of blockchain. He added, “If blockchain technology is adopted for trading in the future, the clearing and settlement processes could disappear, enabling real-time payments.”

Is the tokenization of T+0 settlement still far off when “Why wait two days” is raised?

The U.S. shortened its settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1 last year, and Europe plans to follow suit. Global markets are moving toward even shorter settlement cycles or real-time (T+0) settlement. However, unlike traditional systems that optimize processes by compressing time, the question of “why wait two days” signals a fundamental shift in the underlying logic of capital markets.

After the GameStop incident, U.S. brokerage Robinhood strongly lobbied regulators to reform the clearing system, ultimately leading to the reduction of the settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1. But the problem remains unresolved. In an era of 24-hour news cycles and instant reactions, T+1 still effectively means trades settled on Friday are only finalized on T+3, and during long holidays, this could extend to T+4.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev stated, “This is still too slow; risks still exist.” But the solution is not patching the system—it’s replacing it with a new one: stock tokenization.

Tenev believes the real breakthrough lies in tokenization (asset tokenization). Converting stocks into tokens on the blockchain can enable real-time settlement, 24/7 trading, fractional shares, and lower clearing and capital costs. More importantly, it significantly reduces systemic risk, allowing clearinghouses and brokerages to avoid large uncertainties during settlement periods, removing the need for trading restrictions.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: 《Chain News》
• Original title: “Lee Jae-myung raises ‘Why do stocks take two days to get the money?’ Korea’s stock exchange considers blockchain trading”
• Original author: Neo