POSCO International, South Korea's largest trading company, tokenizes trade receivables on Injective with LG CNS in a pilot that could speed up commercial payments between global subsidiaries.
POSCO International, South Korea's largest trading company, has started tokenizing trade receivables on blockchain in a pilot that could speed up payments between its global subsidiaries.
The company, which generated $22.2 billion in revenue last year from steel, energy and battery materials, is working with LG CNS, the technology arm of LG Group, to issue, transfer and settle receivables on layer-1 blockchain Injective, the firms told CoinDesk.
The pilot uses receivables from real trade between POSCO's overseas operations and their counterparties rather than simulated transactions.
Trade receivables represent money owed to a company after goods have been shipped but before payment arrives. Today those claims are tracked separately by buyers, sellers and banks, with reconciliation often taking days before cash can be released.
Putting receivables on a shared blockchain ledger creates a single record that can be transferred and settled while carrying compliance rules with the asset itself, the companies said.
"This PoC is significant in that it validated the applicability of AI and blockchain technology based on real trade data and processes," a POSCO International spokesperson said. The firm plans to expand the initiative into live production after completing the pilot later this year.
Much of the industry's recent attention has centered on tokenizing funds and equities. Asset managers including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Apollo, Fidelity, Janus Henderson and Mubadala Capital have all brought funds onchain, betting blockchain infrastructure can streamline issuance, settlement and collateral management. The market for tokenized assets has grown to roughly $35 billion, while Citi estimates the market could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030.
Trade finance is another promising use case. Receivables represent real commercial obligations between businesses, allowing companies to move working capital more efficiently on blockchain rails while giving banks and financing partners a shared view of the asset.
South Korea has become one of the more active markets for corporate blockchain adoption. Earlier this month, carmaker Hyundai began using stablecoins for internal treasury transfers between its U.S. and Mexico operations, while stablecoin issuer Circle recently partnered with Kakao Group and Toss Bank to explore stablecoin payment infrastructure.
With the test on Injective, POSCO and LG CNS are extending that push into global trade finance. LG CNS has previously worked on the Bank of Korea's central bank digital currency pilot and operates tokenization platforms for KOSCOM and Mirae Asset Securities.
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