Băncile Woori și Shinhan din Coreea de Sud au doar a anunțat their intention to introduce “crypto-asset services”. That means that four of the country’s top five banks, holding a combined value of more than $1.2 trillion in assets, are now poised to introduce crypto services.
Each of the banks aims to hold and manage cryptocurrencies for clients. Both Shinhan and Woori announced their plans in direct response to the amended Special Financial Transactions Information Act which will change legislation around crypto assets, coming into force next year.
Shinhan bank previously announced plans for crypto storage in 2017, but these plans were thwarted by the government in January 2018.
The NH Nonghyup Bank and Kookmin Bank have already coordinated blockchain teams to implement crypto custodial features, with Nonghyup the most advanced and hoping to launch services for “institutional investors” in the coming months.
Prea puțin, prea târziu?
Experții în blockchain din țară și-au exprimat îngrijorarea că acești pași sunt „prea puțini, prea târziu”, citând instituții americane care sunt cu mult înaintea sectorului bancar din Coreea de Sud. Șeful Centrului de Cercetare Blockchain de la Universitatea Dongguk Park Sung-joon a spus că este „îngrijorat” că „competitivitatea” financiară a națiunii ar putea fi în pericol ca urmare:
“Other countries are moving very quickly in this regard. But there is still no legal system in place in South Korea, so progress is slower than expected.”
Without “institutional support”, he suggested that this push for crypto custody might not eventuate into widespread integration.
Coreea iubește cripto
Although the finance sector has been criticized for its slow uptake on blockchain technology, other industries have been faster to integrate it into their solutions. More than 1 million people have adopted a new permis de conducere digital bazat pe blockchain app after only 3 months. One of South Korea’s biggest banks KEB Hana Bank has partnered with the Korea Expressway Corporation to implementați un sistem de taxare bazat pe blockchain pentru autostrăzile țării.
And this week news emerged Seongnam’s payment program will be expanded by emiterea de noi certificate cadou digitale în timp ce vizitatorii de plajă din Busan vor putea plăti pentru servicii cu Bitcoin (BTC) și Ethereum (ETH).