Jito Foundation announces partnership with Wavebridge, Korea’s influential digital asset infrastructure company, on Institutional Digital Assets roadmap
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A first-of-its-kind coalition assembles the entire digital asset ETF stack in Korea, from index construction to custody, regulation, and staking infrastructure, as the country opens its markets to institutional crypto adoption.
Jito Foundation, operator of the largest validator infrastructure and liquid staking token (LST) JitoSOL on the Solana blockchain, announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Wavebridge, a Korean digital asset infrastructure company for institutions. Through the partnership, the two parties will jointly examine the structuring of institutional digital asset products based on JitoSOL and the feasibility of introducing them to the Korean market.
JitoSOL enables holders to stake Solana (SOL) while maintaining liquidity through a transferable, usable token, and was the first LST to capture maximal extractable value (MEV), additional revenue generated in the block production process, on top of base staking rewards and return it to holders. As of early this year, more than 14 million SOL had been deposited, establishing JitoSOL as the largest and most liquid LST in the Solana ecosystem.
This standing is already being validated within global regulated markets. In the United States, Nasdaq filed VanEck's JitoSOL-based ETF listing proposal with the SEC, initiating the review of the first US LST-based exchange-traded product (ETP), while in Europe, 21Shares launched a Solana ETP built on Jito staking. The core feature of these products is that staking yield is reflected in net asset value (NAV) rather than paid out as separate distributions, packaging the real yield generated by the network into a form institutions can hold and manage. In Korea, where corporate investment in digital assets has been permitted and the institutionalization of spot ETFs and stablecoins is underway, connecting this proven structure to regulated products is the starting point of this partnership.
As an institutional prime broker, Wavebridge will cover the infrastructure layer, including asset custody, product structuring support, and distribution, within the scope of its VASP registration (exchange, transfer, custody, and brokerage services). The Jito Foundation will contribute its expertise on JitoSOL's technical specifications, staking mechanism, and reward and risk parameters. Actual product issuance and management will be contingent on the progress of Korea's regulatory framework and on cooperation with regulated asset managers; ahead of that, the two parties plan to proactively establish the product structure and the custody and settlement framework.
Separately from this partnership, Wavebridge and the Jito Foundation are preparing a joint research report on digital asset ETFs and related products in Korea, targeting release at Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) 2026. Participating institutionals and an experts include Hanwha Asset Management, FnGuide, Korea Digital Asset (KODA), Solana Company and Ryonho Kang, attorney at Shin & Kim. The report will cover ETF product structures, staking and LST frameworks, and pricing methodologies, with details and a roadmap to be announced at a later date.
"Positioned at the center of institutional capital flows, Wavebridge is seeing firsthand that domestic demand for digital assets is growing rapidly, yet the infrastructure to support it has remained fragmented across layers," said Jongwook Oh, CEO of Wavebridge. "JitoSOL is an asset that packages the real yield generated by the network into a form institutions can hold and manage. By integrating this proven staking infrastructure into the design of regulated products in Korea, we aim to consolidate these fragmented efforts into a single roadmap."
"Korea has the capital and the regulatory momentum, what's been missing is proven infrastructure institutions can actually trust," said Marc Liew, Head of APAC at Jito Foundation. "JitoSOL already carries that track record, from VanEck's ETF filing in the US to 21Shares' ETP in Europe, and Wavebridge is the right partner to bring it into Korea's regulated market. This is the starting point of a long-term build, not a pilot."
About Jito Foundation
The Jito Foundation coordinates ecosystem activities and accelerates the adoption of Jito's innovative technologies under the direction of the Jito DAO. By driving governance proposals, distributing grants, and forging strategic partnerships, the Foundation empowers stakeholders to shape the future of Jito's decentralized infrastructure. Through transparent, community-driven initiatives, the Jito Foundation ensures the sustained growth and resilience of Solana's DeFi ecosystem, benefiting validators, stakers, and the broader community. Learn more at jito.network
About Wavebridge
Wavebridge is a digital asset infrastructure company serving institutions and corporations. As a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registered with Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU), Wavebridge provides its institutional digital asset prime brokerage platform, Wavebridge Prime, offering brokerage, custody, clearing, and settlement services. Wavebridge currently serves leading institutional clients and works with domestic and global partners including Coinbase, Paxos, Circle, Solana Foundation and the Jito Foundation. Wavebridge is building the digital asset infrastructure behind every institutional move.
Media Contact:
M Group Strategic Communications (on behalf of the Jito Network)