Korea Digital Asset (KODA), Korea’s largest institutional cryptocurrency custody service, announced on Thursday that the value of cryptocurrency assets in its custody increased by approximately 248% in the second half of 2023.
KODA, which was jointly founded by major Korean bank KB Bank, cryptocurrency venture capital firm Hashed, and blockchain technology company Haechi Labs, said in a statement that the assets it manages are worth approximately 8 trillion won (KRW 8 trillion). It is said that it has increased to $6 billion). From 2.3 trillion won as of the end of June 2023 to the end of last year
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin price rose 38% in the second half of 2023 due to investor expectations about the launch of the US Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund in January of this year. Bitcoin was trading at around $51,770 at 5:15 PM Hong Kong time on Thursday, up 0.6% over the past 24 hours. The Block Pricing Page. that much GMCI 30 Index It represents the performance of the top 30 cryptocurrencies — up about 42.5% in the second half of last year.
South Korea currently restricts institutions and companies from directly investing in cryptocurrencies through exchanges, while cryptocurrency custodians have provided institutional investors with a regulated outlet to manage their crypto assets.
According to KODA, which cited a report from the Korea Institute of Financial Intelligence (KIM), the company’s market share in the domestic cryptocurrency asset storage sector reached 80% as of the end of June 2023. KODA says it currently serves about 50 enterprise customers and manages more than 200 wallets.
Spot Bitcoin ETF Possibility
KODA said in a statement that demand for cryptocurrency storage services could increase further in the future.
Earlier this week, both control and outs In Korea, the company announced plans to launch a domestic spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as an election pledge ahead of the general election on April 10. Both parties also pledged to lift the ban restricting institutional investment in cryptocurrencies.
Researcher Jin Cho said, “Looking at the trends in global capital markets such as the United States and Hong Kong, the institutionalization of digital assets is already irreversible, and if the Bitcoin spot ETF is approved in Korea, KODA is expected to play a key infrastructure role.” . – KODA CEO Seok said in his press release.
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