Wavebridge said Friday it has been named to the digital assets category of CNBC and global statistics firm Statista's "World's Top Fintech Companies 2026" list.
CNBC and Statista evaluated roughly 3,500 companies worldwide on key performance indicators including sales growth, innovation and market influence, selecting 500 firms across eight categories. The digital assets category included 40 companies globally.
Wavebridge is the only Korean company named in the digital assets category. Across all categories, five Korean firms made the list: Naver, Kakao Bank, Viva Republica (Toss), Hecto Financial and Wavebridge.
CNBC defines the digital assets category as infrastructure companies that support blockchain-based services and digital asset adoption, rather than tokens or blockchain protocols themselves.
Wavebridge is an institutional digital asset infrastructure company registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU). The company focuses on prime brokerage and is building digital asset exchange and settlement infrastructure for payment operators such as card companies and banks.
The company operates a trade execution system linked to global exchanges and over-the-counter desks, along with an integrated custody and trading platform. It also works with global stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure providers including Circle, Paxos and Canton Network, and supports custody for 11 stablecoins across six currency zones.
In South Korea, Wavebridge is conducting a stablecoin payment proof-of-concept with KB Kookmin Card and has been expanding partnerships with card companies and payment network operators — including signing an MOU last month with integrated payment services firm KSNet. Wavebridge and KSNet plan to advance their technology cooperation in stages in line with the regulatory framework being developed under the Digital Asset Basic Act.
"This recognition reflects the global validation of the reliability and competitiveness of the institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure Wavebridge has built," CEO Oh Jong-wook said. "I believe our efforts to create an environment where institutional customers at home and abroad can safely participate in the digital asset market — with regulatory compliance as our top priority — have been recognized." He added that the company would continue to enhance its institutional payment and settlement infrastructure and expand its global partnerships.
kyoung@heraldcorp.com
