POSCO International, the trading arm of South Korea’s steel and industrial conglomerate POSCO Holdings, completed a pilot tokenizing real trade receivables on the Avalanche blockchain on August 25. The transaction involved actual capital provided by trade-finance firm Olea, which is backed by Standard Chartered’s venture arm, SC Ventures.
How the Pilot Worked
POSCO International America, the company’s US subsidiary, partnered with Intain, a Layer-1 network built on Avalanche’s infrastructure. The process began with AI-powered verification of trade documents, such as invoices and shipping records, to check for consistency prior to blockchain integration.
After verification, the receivables were registered on Intain’s network to establish an immutable ledger of ownership and transaction history. Olea acted as both the trade-finance platform and the capital provider, purchasing the tokenized receivables.
Recent Blockchain Activity and Market Context
The pilot follows a separate proof-of-concept completed on July 27 with LG CNS, which tokenized trade receivables on the Injective blockchain using live trade data from POSCO International’s overseas subsidiaries. POSCO International reported $22.2 billion in revenue and operates over 80 branches globally across industries including steel, energy, and battery materials.
The Asian Development Bank has estimated the global trade finance gap at approximately $2.5 trillion due to cumbersome or risky financing processes. The POSCO International pilot combined AI document verification with blockchain registration to address these friction points.
Looking ahead, POSCO International America, Olea, and Intain indicated plans to explore further applications, including the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions and the development of digital treasury tools.
