With the regulatory support for cryptocurrency and blockchain-based companies, South Korean financial giants announce crypto custody services.
The biggest commercial bank in South Korea, KB Kookmin Bank made a strategic partnership with the local blockchain company Hashed and cryptocurrency exchange Cumberland Korea to provide crypto custody services.
The deal was made last week and will primarily involve only Bitcoin custody. As stated in the report, published by Hashed legal and compliance officer Jin Kang, the partnership aims to transform the traditional financial sector. Meanwhile, the CEO of Hashed Simon Kim agrees the country is entering the era of digital transformation:
Combining our insight in the blockchain industry and providing both technical and commercial consultations will inevitably open new doors to consumers as well as to the country in ushering the new era of digital transformation.
The KB bank further expects the involvement of traditional assets like real estate or artwork to be issued and traded on blockchain platforms.
A few weeks earlier the third major South Korean bank Nonghyup Bank declared the development of an open-source custodial platform to provide digital asset custodial services aimed solely at institutional investors.
The bank claims corporate investors to be also “interested in developing alternative investment products based on virtual assets”. Moreover, the Nonghyup Bank plans to expand its services to create Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), securities-type token issuance, and digital asset management in the future.
The legal environment has been favorable for the cryptocurrency industry in South Korea since March when the National Assembly passed the bill legalizing cryptocurrencies and crypto-related service providers.
The global process of cryptocurrency acceptance is already accelerating. As DailyCoin previously reported, The Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) of the United States gave permission for national banks to provide cryptocurrency custodian services.
Meanwhile, in Europe traditional Swiss banks already launched digital asset trading and custodian services. Over 40 financial institutions in Germany are waiting for licenses to manage the cryptocurrencies. Numbers of countries worldwide are experimenting with their own Central Bank Digital Coins (CBDC).
