Hanwha & JitoSOL: A Love Story (With Yields)

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Hanwha Asset Management, South Korea’s financial titan, now courts JitoSOL ETPs like a suitor with a pension fund and a calculator.

South Korea’s Hanwha Asset Management, a firm whose name evokes both reverence and mild confusion, has struck a partnership with the Jito Foundation. Together, they aim to craft regulated exchange-traded products tied to JitoSOL, a liquid staking token on Solana. The announcement, made on a Monday as if to mock the weekend, was reported by The Block.

Hanwha oversees 6.4 trillion won in assets-approximately $4.44 billion-a sum so vast it could buy a small island or, more prosaically, a lifetime supply of kimchi. By South Korean standards, they are a titan, though one might wonder if their real power lies in asset management or in their ability to outlast every government scandal since 1987.

Pension Money Dreams of Solana Returns

Vice President Choi Young-jin, whose title alone suggests a career spent navigating bureaucratic labyrinths, praised JitoSOL for its “returns and liquidity.” In a translated statement, he called it ideal for retirees seeking portfolio diversification. One imagines octogenarians trading soybean futures for staked SOL, their heirs nervously clutching inheritance forms.

This framing matters. South Korean pensions, vast as they are, could become JitoSOL’s most unlikely allies. If successful, Solana’s institutional footprint might grow not through innovation, but through pension funds’ collective refusal to admit they’ve entered a speculative casino.

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The partnership involves technical wizardry: integrating JitoSOL into ETP structures, validating custody solutions, and building risk management processes. Regulators, ever the party poopers, are also invited to the compliance dance. One suspects Hanwha’s lawyers are already drafting a thesis on “Regulatory Compliance: The Art of Saying Yes Without Committing to Anything.”

JitoSOL’s dual yield mechanism-Solana staking rewards plus MEV-is as complex as a tax code written by a poet. Yet Hanwha and JitoSOL press on, like two lovers determined to build a future despite the odds-or at least until the next market crash.

South Korea’s Crypto Law: Still Stuck in Neutral

The Digital Asset Basic Act, scheduled for clarity in 2025, remains as elusive as a perfect kimchi recipe. Disputes over stablecoin issuer eligibility-specifically, whether banks should monopolize licenses-have stalled progress. Regulators insist on bank-exclusive licensing; industry players argue this would kill competition. Meanwhile, the market hums along, indifferent to bureaucratic theater.

Still, Hanwha and others proceed as if the law will pass, like farmers planting crops despite a forecast of hurricanes. Perhaps they trust in the same divine intervention that keeps their retirement accounts afloat.

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JitoSOL’s Global Sprint

Hanwha isn’t alone. Last month, 21Shares launched Jito Staked SOL ETP on Euronext, while VanEck’s U.S. ETF filing waits patiently in the SEC’s inbox. It’s a synchronized sprint, with JitoSOL as the hare and regulators as the tortoise, sipping coffee and nodding slowly.

The pattern is clear: JitoSOL-based products are racing into regulated markets, a financial version of a flash mob. South Korea now joins the parade, though whether it will lead or follow remains unclear.

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Hanwha’s move suggests institutional readiness in South Korea outpaces legislation, a trend akin to baking a cake before preheating the oven. When the Digital Asset Basic Act finally passes, the products may already be on the shelves, ready for sale. The bigger question? Will stablecoin eligibility disputes resolve before the regulators demand a refund?

For now, Hanwha and JitoSOL march forward, as if the market’s volatility is merely a minor inconvenience. After all, what’s a few billion in assets when you’re rewriting the rules of finance over tea and kimchi?

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2026-02-24 03:57