TL;DR
- Bitfinex Securities operates under AIFC regulation in Kazakhstan, a jurisdiction that extended its legal framework to tokenized instruments in October 2024.
- Hong Kong issued green digital bonds worth HK$10 billion in November 2025 and allows secondary token trading for retail investors via licensed platforms.
- South Korea incorporated distributed ledgers into its securities law in January 2026, with enforcement scheduled for February 2027.
According to an analysis published by Bitfinex, the tokenization of real-world assets is going through a phase of strong institutional growth in Asia, where regulators across three distinct jurisdictions are simultaneously building the legal and market infrastructure the sector needs to scale.
Bitfinex Securities operates from the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in Kazakhstan, one of the markets that has advanced furthest in this process, and its positioning reflects a key trend for the industry: jurisdictions that establish early rules capture issuers, intermediaries and investors while companies are still deciding where to build.
Bitfinex: The AIFC Regulatory Framework
The AIFC’s Investment Token Framework, in effect since October 18, 2024, brought security tokens, derivatives and environmental instruments under a common regulatory category. The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) simultaneously amended its rules to allow the trading of Qualified Investment Tokens within existing venues.
The practical effect was that issuers gained clarity on where they can list their instruments and investors retain the protections associated with already established categories. A second framework, driven by the Kazakh central bank and in force since May 1, 2026, distinguishes between issuance and ownership registry platforms, trading platforms and cryptocurrency exchanges, whose registration or licensing requirements vary depending on the activity.
Asia Rewrites Its Market Rules
Bitfinex analyzes the development of the industry across different jurisdictions. South Korea approved multiple amendments to its securities law on January 15, 2026, recognizing distributed ledgers as legally valid accounting books.
The regulation takes effect on February 4, 2027 and its implementation is divided into three phases: the first covers money market funds, bonds for institutional investors and fractional securities from public offerings; the second extends the scope to all types of public offering securities; the third incorporates on-chain payment infrastructure linked to stablecoins.
Hong Kong is advancing on the commercial side. The regional government issued green digital bonds worth approximately HK$10 billion in November 2025, in tranches denominated in Hong Kong dollar, renminbi, US dollar and euro — the world’s largest digital bond issuance according to the HKMA.
Two SFC circulars dated April 20, 2026, enabled secondary trading for retail investors through licensed virtual platforms, with prefunding requirements, net asset value deviation alerts and at least one market maker per product. On September 16, 2026, Hong Kong’s Policy Address also committed to the trading of regulated stablecoins on licensed platforms and announced the development of tokenized gold markets.
For Bitfinex, the race for tokenized assets reveals a common logic: capturing the business that grows around a securities market — issuance, trading and custody — before flows consolidate in other markets. Winning an issuance is one achievement. Offering investors a reliable market is another.
