South Korea’s KB Kookmin moves ahead with crypto-custody service plans

KB Kookmin, South Korea’s biggest commercial bank, is in between plans of launching a crypto-custody service for digital coins like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), according to a recent report. This development comes just days after the country legalized crypto-trading.

Along with crypto-custody, the bank might also extend other services like trading, investment advisory, and asset management. The report went on to reveal that the bank has filed a trademark application for KB Digital Asset Custody [KBDAC] with the Korean Intellectual Property Office. However, it must be noted that it might take about 6 months to 2 years for the application to be approved.

The bank, previously in 2019, had announced teaming up with blockchain start-up Atomrigs Lab to jointly explore digital asset management and protection solutions. However, as of the time of writing, there had not been any updates on the same.

KB Kookmin Bank releasing KBDAC in the future might have a big impact on the financial and blockchain industry in the country. The report read,

“KB Kookmin Bank is one of the leading commercial banks in Korea. KB Kookmin Bank’s bringing virtual assets into the official business area can be a catalyst to change not only the first financial sector, but also the entire financial sector such as financial investment companies, securities companies, credit card companies, and insurance companies.”

KB Kookmin Bank isn’t the first entity to make such an announcement, however. A few months ago, Telecom Giant KT had also announced its intention to launch a digital currency of its own.

As highlighted above, this development comes on the back of the South Korean parliament legitimizing crypto-trading and identifying cryptocurrencies as legal entities. In fact, just recently, a Presidential Commission had also recommended participation in the crypto-space to the government.

This isn’t all, however, as for a long time, South Korea has been at the forefront of a lot of crypto-related developments. In fact, the crypto-exchanges in the South Korean ecosystem were one of the first to take the mantle of clamping down on privacy coins via a delisting spree after the FATF travel rule came into force.