South Korean Companies Planning On Establishing Crypto Exchanges
Some of the biggest companies in South Korea have plans of launching their own crypto exchanges in the next year. These include prominent names like Samsung Electronics and Mirae Asset Securities.
The companies have taken note of the hype surrounding the crypto sector and have plans of establishing their own crypto companies in the first half of 2023.
Crypto regulatory framework
While many countries around the world are still contemplating how to regulate the crypto industry in their respective jurisdiction, South Korea has already made a great deal of progress.
As a matter of fact, the crypto regulatory framework developed in South Korea has been termed as one of the toughest ones in the world.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in South Korea introduced some mandatory requirements for crypto exchanges last year, which forced almost 60 companies out of business.
Local media reports have disclosed that seven of the biggest security firms in South Korea are planning on jumping on the crypto bandwagon and launching their own exchanges in 2023.
The entities have been making efforts to obtain a license to establish these exchanges from the local monetary authorities.
Crypto exchanges
Discussions about establishing crypto exchanges have been ongoing for a while and have now reached their final stages.
Two of the prominent names that have expressed interest in introducing their own exchanges include Mirae Asset Securities and Samsung Securities.
The former is planning on launching a subsidiary company through its Mirae Asset Consulting firm. Once the subsidiary is launched, it will offer trading services for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In addition, it will also support non-fungible tokens (NFTs). As for the latter, it is planning on venturing into the blockchain sector.
A token trading platform was introduced by the company last year, but it was unable to hire the professionals needed for performing this task.
The plans of these two renowned companies in South Korea are in accordance with the pro-crypto stance of the country’s president.
According to the South Korean president, they aim to create a conducive environment for allowing crypto trading to flourish and to give domestic workers a better environment.
Regulatory requirements
The FIU is the financial market regulator in South Korea and last year, it introduced anti-money laundering (AML) laws for crypto companies.
It was mandatory for all firms operating in the crypto sector to comply with the rules and get themselves registered with the regulatory authority.
However, the requirements that were outlined by the FIU were not so straightforward and there were about 60 companies that were unable to fulfill them.
This resulted in them being forced to shut down their operations in South Korea. But, some of the leading crypto exchanges in the country were able to meet the criteria outlined by the FIU.
These include Coinobe, Upbit, Korbit, and Bithumb, which are still operating in South Korea. But, other exchanges, such as Flubit and ProBit are not permitted to make settlements in won on behalf of their clients.
