South Korean businesses are moving into the cryptocurrency and blockchain fields.
When it comes to cryptocurrency, North Korea tends to get most of the attention on the Korean Peninsula. Since 2017, North Korea has stolen $571 million from cryptocurrency exchanges and accounted for nearly 65 percent of all cryptocurrency stolen. Despite North Korea’s illicit activities in this burgeoning field, the recent acquisition of Europe’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by a South Korean investment firm is just the latest sign that South Korea is developing into a significant player on the licit side of cryptocurrency and its underlying blockchain technology.
In late October, NXMH, the Belgium-based subsidiary of the South Korean investment firm NXC, acquired Bitstamp, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Europe by trading volume. The transaction will give NXC ownership of both Bitstamp and the smaller South Korean exchange Korbit. While Korbit and Bitstamp will operate separately, the two exchanges will share technology and resources for research and development.
NXC isn’t the only cryptocurrency player in South Korea looking to expand abroad. South Korea’s largest exchange, Bithumb, is partnering with Seriesone to establish a new exchange in the United States, while Coinone recently entered the European market with its Malta based exchange CGEX and Upibit is planning to launch a new exchange in Singapore.
The expansion of South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges abroad has been powered by their expansion at home. One-in-three salaried South Koreans are estimated to have invested in coins, while the Korean won trails only the U. S. dollar in Bitcoin trading volume. Local exchanges Bithumb and Coinbit are currently two of the top three exchanges in the world by volume.
