POSCO International is moving real trade invoices onto a blockchain, marking a rare step beyond testing with simulated data. The South Korean trading powerhouse, which reported $22.2 billion in revenue last year, is collaborating with LG CNS to tokenize actual commercial invoices using the Injective blockchain network.
The pilot project, announced during a joint press event, plans to deliver a live production version by 2026. It will create a shared, onchain ledger for each receivable, embedding compliance details, ownership records, and settlement instructions directly onto the blockchain. This replaces the slower traditional process involving multiple spreadsheet reconciliations and PDF exchanges across different time zones.
Streamlining Settlements on a Global Scale
POSCO International operates dozens of global subsidiaries, and reducing settlement times by even a day or two can meaningfully improve their working capital efficiency. The pilot aims to cut down multi-day reconciliation cycles that currently delay payments between commercial partners and banks.
LG CNS brings extensive blockchain experience to the table, having spearheaded key phases of South Korea's wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) tests and developed tokenized deposit platforms with involvement from seven major Korean banks.
Injective, designed as a Layer 1 blockchain tailored for financial applications, stands out by offering shared, interoperable ledgers instead of permissioned models like Hyperledger or R3 Corda. This approach aligns with a broader trend in South Korea, where corporations like Hyundai have already adopted stablecoins for treasury management, and the Bank of Korea is advancing CBDC infrastructure.
The current market cap for tokenized real-world assets sits near $35 billion, but estimates by Citi suggest explosive growth to $5.5 trillion by 2030, a 157-fold increase in just five years.
The success of this pilot could influence whether more enterprises join the Injective ecosystem and if LG CNS expands its blockchain services internationally. Equally, observers will watch if the Bank of Korea’s CBDC initiatives eventually merge with these private-sector tokenization projects.
