KB Kookmin, one of the largest banks in South Korea, is on the move to launch Bitcoin and crypto custody services after teaming up with crypto trading platform Cumberland Korea and blockchain venture fund Hashed.
In a blog post, Jin Kang, legal and compliance officer at Hashed, says the strategic partnership will focus on securing and managing digital assets, lobbying for favorable regulatory measures, and working on the development of the legacy financial system.
The establishment of the consortium comes after the South Korean government passed legislation that legalizes cryptocurrencies and considers digital assets as taxable properties. The shift in the government’s regulatory stance gave South Korea’s largest banks, including KB Kookmin, the push to dabble in crypto assets.
But KB Kookmin’s jump into the digital asset space is not limited to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The banking giant also expects the digitization of other asset classes.
“KB Kookmin Bank, the largest bank of the four, anticipates that the digital asset industry will not only involve cryptocurrencies, but also other traditional assets such as real estate, artwork, and other reified rights that will be issued and traded on blockchain platforms. The partnership, therefore, beckons a start of a long journey in building the necessary technology stack.”