South Korean KakaoBank considers Crypto Exchange Partnerships 

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Key Takeaways 

  • Kakao Bank is planning to add more to its customer services by partnering with cryptocurrency exchanges. 
  • Local reports noted that the bank is already in talks with Coinone. 

With the crypto industry expanding, financial institutions are also exploring the world of digital assets to accelerate their market share. On May 3, the CEO of Kakao Bank, Yoon Ho-young shared the goals of the institution during a conference call while discussing the business results in the first quarter of 2022. 

During the conference, Yoon revealed that the bank has plans to offer services related to virtual asset exchanges. Along with other plans like entering the corporate loan market, Kakao, South Korea’s largest digital bank, will also be reviewing its strategy to create alliances with cryptocurrency exchanges to increase its customer inflow. Reports suggest that it is in talks with Coinone, a cryptocurrency exchange.

As the financial institution stepped into the market only a few years back, it is looking for ways to expand rapidly. The CEO of the company says that the bank is planning to expand its services to acquire more customers. As recently, a lot of customers are “investing and managing virtual assets as one of the financial products”, Kakao is trying to build allies or secure collaborations that will help facilitate their goals. 

“As [crypto] is considered a major asset amongst customers, we are reviewing how we can provide virtual assets in services or in the form of a business in a favorable light,” said the CEO. 

According to the local regulations, crypto exchanges need to abide by anti-money laundering rules and will have to partner with banks to issue real-name deposit and withdrawal accounts to offer cash-to-crypto services. 

The South Korean bank competes with the Internet bank K-bank which has already secured real-name account partnerships with Upbit to increase its market share. It is also reported that Kakao will be sealing the deal with Coinone by supplying real-name verification deposits and withdrawal accounts. The bank may also link its real-name account with the exchange from early June or July of this year. The information related to the bank’s partnership with Coinone has been mentioned in local reports but the bank has denied them.

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Shreya Bhattacharya
Shreya Bhattacharya

A journalist & writer exploring new topics every day!

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