BitGo Partners With Hana Bank on South Korean Crypto Custody Business
- One of the largest South Korean commercial banks, KEB Hana Bank, partnered with crypto custodian BitGo in order to set up a new crypto custody venture in the country.
- The new venture, which will use BitGo’s crypto security expertise and Hana’s experience in financial services and compliance, is expected to launch in the second half of 2024.
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California-based crypto custodian BitGo has partnered with major South Korean commercial bank KEB Hana Bank to help it develop its own digital asset custody service, the Korea Economic Daily reported on 5 September.
The announcement was made at the Korea Blockchain Week conference in Seoul, during which BitGo and Hana signed a strategic business agreement to jointly develop and establish a digital asset custody venture in South Korea. As part of the partnership, BitGo will provide its crypto custody solution and security expertise, while Hana Bank contributes with its experience in financial services and compliance. Hana and BitGo said in a joint press release that:
“The partnership is expected to be an important turning point in raising the standards of the domestic digital asset market to a global level and encouraging institutional participation in the market.”
The new crypto custody venture is expected to launch in the second half of 2024, with BitGo CEO Mike Belshe noting that his firm will focus on improving the transparency and security of the South Korean digital asset industry.
KEB Hana Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in South Korea, with over 110 branches and more than $440 billion in assets under management. A recent report from Maeil Business News Korea indicated that the bank is interested in tokenized deposit technology, and that it is “actively participating” in the Bank of Korea’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof-of-concept project.
The news of the new crypto custody venture came less than a month after BitGo raised $100 million in a Series C funding round — with a valuation of $1.75 billion — the proceeds of which will go towards strategic acquisitions and global expansion. The company is also planning to launch an office in South Korea in the second half of 2024, after obtaining the necessary licenses under local regulations.
- The now arrested Terraform Labs CEO had reportedly converted the majority of his illicit funds into BTC using foreign exchanged not under the jurisdiction of South Korea.
- While none of the assets tied to Do Kwon were recoverable, South Korean authorities continue to seize assets and properties tied to other executives of Terra.
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- A person suspected to be Terra founder Do Kwon was arrested at the airport in Montenegro’s capital city of Podgorica with “falsified documents”.
- South Korean authorities have confirmed the individual was Do Kwon based on “photo data”, name, age, and nationality, but are still waiting for fingerprint information.
- South Korea’s FSC clarified that crypto assets will be treated as security tokens if they have the same characteristics as securities as laid out in the Capital Markets Act.
- The FSC noted that stablecoins and crypto assets that do not have an issuer will likely not fall under the definition of securities.