Woori becomes last major Korean bank to announce crypto custody services

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According to a July 11 report from the Korean Economic Daily, the group’s banking unit, Woori Woori Financial Group, has become the latest major South Korean financial institution to announce that it will launch digital asset custody services.

Bank, partners with Bitcoin-based fintech solutions company Coinplug to establish a digital asset custody joint venture, dubbed D-Custody.

Coinplug will be the main shareholder of D-Custodys, followed by Woori Bank. The joint venture is expected to be formed in the coming weeks.

Existing Korean law maintains that domestic entities are unable to access cryptocurrency exchange services, meaning that the country’s banks can only enter the crypto market through joint ventures of equity investments.

While local banks are prohibited from entering the digital asset custody market directly, a growing number of large Korean financial institutions are forming joint ventures with partial ownership to gain a foothold in the industry. A representative from Woori Bank said:

In overseas markets, digital asset custody has become an established and successful practice among new services offered by banks.

As of August 2020, four of South Korea’s five largest banks had declared their intention to launch crypto custody services, including Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, NH Nonghyup Bank, and Woori Bank.

Related: South Korea’s Small Crypto Exchanges Face Rising Regulatory Heat

Kookmin, the country’s largest financial institution, filed for a trademark application for its custody service in March 2020, before forming Korea Digital Asset Co. in partnership with venture capital fund Hashed and local service firm. Haechi Labs blockchain in November.

In June 2020, Nonghyup Bank launched a blockchain financial services consortium in partnership with blockchain developer Hexlant, with the group announcing plans to start a custody business alongside Korea Information & Communications Co.

In January 2021, Shinhan Bank announced that it had made a strategic investment in the crypto-custodial consortium, Korea Digital Asset Trust, which is backed by the main local exchange, Korbit.

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