Yonhap, a leading news resource in South Korea, said that the country’s commercial banks last year, kept in cryptocurrency about $2 billion.
Although the share of digital assets in regulated financial institutions in South Korea accounts for only 8% of all funds (brokerage activities), local media claim that digital currencies make up a significant portion of the assets in commercial banks. At the same time they make a reservation:
The volume of investments in scriptactive small compared to stock markets, and the influence of local financial institutions to potential risks in the market of digital assets is insignificant. Against this background, we expect scriptactive will have a limited impact on South Korean financial market.
In April it was reported that Bithumb, the largest crypto currency exchange in South Korea, traded $6 billion users at the end of November (this figure was calculated for the period when the bitcoin exchange rate reached $20 000). Due to the status of a publicly registered company on the South Korean stock market Bithumb must disclose their assets and income to investors.
Given the substantial reduction in the cost of basic digital currencies from December 2017, we can assume that today the cost of scriptaction in the banks is about $1 billion.
However, although the share of digital assets small in comparison with traditional assets, the fact that commercial banks were among the largest holders of the cryptocurrency, says the wide acceptance of the last in the country.
For example, Shinhan, the second largest Bank in South Korea, develops a bitcoin wallet to their customers. Also, the Bank actively cooperated with Ripple. In December last year, his representatives said:
Shinhan is testing a virtual platform bitcoin vault where the secret keys of the bitcoin addresses and wallets are managed and issued by the Bank. The Bank intends to provide free service to store, but charge a fee for withdrawals.
The South Korean government has repeatedly indicated its intention to regulate the crypto currency exchange and blockchain startups. Already developed regulatory framework, and in the coming months it is expected that digital currency in South Korea be recognized as a legitimate asset.
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