Global digital asset custody firm BitGo has added South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom and the country’s largest financial institution, Hana Financial Group, as major shareholders and strategic partners of the company’s Asia-Pacific subsidiary.
Hana Financial Group has acquired a 25% stake in BitGo Korea, while SKT has acquired a 10% stake, BitGo CEO Mike Belsh said Tuesday at the Korea Blockchain Week 2024 event in Seoul. BitGo Korea is a joint venture with Hana Bank established earlier this year. BitGo first partnered with Hana Bank in September of last year.
The two Korean industry leaders plan to support BitGo Korea in expanding its presence in the domestic market and ultimately establishing a foundation for institutionalization of cryptocurrency in Korea.
While Hana promised to revitalize the domestic cryptocurrency industry by providing a stable cryptocurrency custody service in cooperation with BitGo, SKT said it would provide its know-how in user authentication, security, and identity verification to make BitGo’s services more accessible to customers.
BitGo Korea is currently preparing to be licensed as a virtual asset service provider in Korea. Founded in 2013, BitGo currently holds approximately $70 billion in assets under custody, and added that approximately 20% of Bitcoin traded on-chain is transacted through BitGo infrastructure.
Hana Financial Group was ranked as the third largest financial group in Korea with total assets of approximately KRW 592 trillion (USD 441.4 billion) as of the end of 2023, local media reported on the 28th. Newsis. SK Telecom is the largest telecommunications company in Korea. According to reports It accounts for about 40% of the market.
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About the Author
Danny Park is The Block’s East Asia reporter, writing about topics including Web3 development and cryptocurrency regulation in the region. He was previously a reporter at Forkast.News, where he actively covered the downfalls of Terra-Luna and FTX. Based in Seoul, Danny previously produced written and video content for media companies in Korea, Hong Kong, and China. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Business Marketing from the University of Hong Kong.