Key Takeaways:
POSCO International, a $22.2 billion trading arm, tokenized trade receivables on Avalanche on Aug. 25, with Standard Chartered-backed Olea buying them with real capital.
"This is an important step beyond proof-of-concept toward real-world adoption," Amelia Ng, CEO of Olea, said.
The pilot ran on Intain's Layer-1 network built on Avalanche. Intain used AI to cross-check invoices, purchase orders, credit notes and shipping documents for consistency before registering the receivables on-chain, creating an immutable record of ownership and transaction history. Olea, backed by SC Ventures — Standard Chartered's venture investment unit — participated as both trade-finance platform and capital provider, purchasing the tokenized receivables. The transaction followed a July 27 proof-of-concept with LG CNS on the Injective blockchain, which also used live trade data from POSCO's overseas subsidiaries rather than synthetic test data. POSCO International operates more than 80 branches worldwide across steel, energy and battery materials.
The Asian Development Bank estimates the global trade finance gap at roughly $2.5 trillion — legitimate trade that doesn't happen because financing is too cumbersome or risky for lenders. POSCO, Olea and Intain plan to explore stablecoin-based cross-border settlement and digital treasury tools, extending tokenization beyond the funds and bonds that have dominated the sector.
The pilot combined AI's ability to parse unstructured trade documents with blockchain's capacity to create trust between counterparties. The on-chain record of each receivable's ownership and processing status enables full transaction trails to be tracked and audited, reducing the complexity of reconciliation work that recurs throughout traditional trade finance operations.
Siddhartha, founder and CEO of Intain, said "AI established the authenticity of the assets, and blockchain preserved that fact and connected it to finance," predicting the model could be applied broadly across institutional asset securitization.
Kim Yong-il, vice president of global business development at Avalanche, said large companies with significant cross-border transaction volumes could see blockchain-driven time and cost savings affect their profitability. "As blockchain takes on the role of automated finance, I expect this kind of trend to grow," he said.
The experiments show tokenization expanding beyond the funds and bonds that have dominated the sector. Companies are increasingly testing blockchain rails for payments, collateral and trade finance, where faster settlement and shared records could free up working capital locked in traditional processes. For Avalanche, the pilot adds enterprise credibility as a Layer-1 platform for real-world asset tokenization, a segment that has drawn growing interest from financial institutions.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
