Digital asset financial infrastructure startup FairSquareLab said on the 15th that it has formed a strategic partnership with global digital asset core banking platform provider DFNS, as it steps up its push into the banking sector. Through the partnership, the companies plan to significantly strengthen their ability to build digital asset wallet and custody infrastructure tailored to Korea’s financial regulatory environment.
Combining global technology with domestic financial expertise
FairSquareLab has worked with Korean financial institutions to successfully deliver a range of infrastructure projects, including digital asset custody, security tokens (STs) and stablecoin payments. The company has demonstrated its technical capabilities by leading Project Pangea, a stablecoin-based foreign exchange settlement project involving more than 50 financial institutions in Korea and Europe.
DFNS, FairSquareLab’s chosen partner, was founded in Paris in 2020 and provides wallet infrastructure based on multi-party computation (MPC) technology adopted by global financial institutions, including the Netherlands’ ABN AMRO and the U.K.’s Standard Chartered. It possesses world-class key management technology that prevents hacking and insider leaks by splitting a private key into multiple pieces and storing them separately.
Full support for network separation and on-premises deployment as Sphere is enhanced
At the heart of the partnership is the integration of DFNS’s global technology into Sphere, FairSquareLab’s institutional wallet infrastructure. This will enable the companies to build customized wallet and custody infrastructure that Korean financial institutions can operate directly in their own environments.
To meet strict electronic financial regulations, including network separation and domestic data storage—essential requirements for Korean banks—the solution supports not only cloud deployment but also on-premises installation directly on a financial institution’s own infrastructure, as well as hybrid deployment. It incorporates institutions’ internal control frameworks into wallet operations, including transaction approval policies and authorization workflows. The flexible design also allows institutions to start with non-custodial wallets and move to custodial services as regulations are updated.
“We will build infrastructure tailored to domestic regulations”
With the Virtual Asset User Protection Act in effect and discussions on stablecoin regulation gaining momentum, standards for financial-sector infrastructure are gradually rising. Sphere meets all these requirements while incorporating the latest global wallet technology, and has completed audits for certifications including SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.
“For financial institutions to launch digital asset businesses, they need both globally competitive security technology and an operating environment that complies with domestic regulations,” said Joonhong Kim, CEO of FairSquareLab. “By combining DFNS’s MPC technology, proven by global financial institutions, with FairSquareLab’s institutional custody infrastructure, we will build digital asset wallet and custody infrastructure suited to Korea’s regulatory environment.”
Felix Eigelshoven, DFNS’s head of Asia Pacific (APAC), echoed that sentiment: “In Korea, digital asset regulation is advancing with banks at the center, and the market has strict security requirements, including network separation. We are pleased to work with FairSquareLab, which deeply understands this environment, to provide wallet infrastructure that Korean banks can trust.”