South Korean Banks Apply For license To Deal In Crypto Services

South Korea recently elected pro-crypto Candidate Yoon Suk Yeol as their President. Now, The Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) and its member banks are seeking approval from the incoming administration over providing crypto services. As of now, the government prohibits local banks from cryptocurrency related operations.

KFB seeks approval to provide crypto services

According to a leaked draft report, KFB has written that banks should be allowed to provide crypto linked business, including digital assets trading, e-wallets, and more, reports Forkast. The member banks have mentioned that the virtual asset business needs to be added to the scope of their business.

The draft reportedly requests that the changes should be done to the Banking Act. So that financial institutions can enter the industry as credible organizations. It also mentioned that some local crypto exchanges are dealing with 90% of the digital assets market in the country. This move will eventually avoid the monopolization of these platforms over the crypto market.

It should be noted that country’s top five commercial banks are members of the bank federation which is seeking a license for banks to deal with crypto.

According to Forkast, the draft report has been distributed among local banks for review and is not finalised yet. However, it is also possible that KFB may not present this request.

S.Korea on its way to Cryto revolution

The incoming President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to lead South Korea’s cryptocurrency market to a new high. He has presented some strong ideas for the finance and cryptocurrencies ecosystem. Earlier, Yoon promised to permit initial coin offerings (ICOs) and reduced tax on crypto gains in order to ease the regulations.

South Korea is Asia’s 4th largest crypto market with a population investing over 52 trillion won (approx $43.6 billion) in digital assets, reports The Korea Herald. Investors in the age range of 20s to 30s hold over 19 trillion won (approx $15.5 billion) which makes up 36% of the total crypto market.