Korea Digital Asset (KODA), the largest institutional cryptocurrency custody service in South Korea, announced on Thursday that the value of crypto assets under its custody increased by approximately 248% in the second half of 2023.
KODA — set up by major Korean bank KB Bank, crypto venture capital firm Hashed and blockchain technology company Haechi Labs — said in a statement that the value of assets under its custody rose to about 8 trillion Korean won ($6 billion) at the end of last year from 2.3 trillion won. At the end of June 2023.
Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin rose 38% in the last half of 2023, driven by factors including investor enthusiasm over the launch of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US, which took place in January this year. Bitcoin was trading at around $51,770 at 5:15pm on Thursday Hong Kong time, up 0.6% over the past 24 hours, according to Block pricing page. the GMCI 30 index – which represents the performance of the top 30 cryptocurrencies – rose by about 42.5% in the second half of last year.
South Korea currently restricts institutions and companies from directly investing in cryptocurrencies via exchanges, while crypto custodians have provided institutional investors with a regulated window to manage crypto assets.
The company's market share in the domestic crypto asset custody sector reached 80% at the end of June 2023, according to KODA, which cited a report by the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit. KODA said it currently serves about 50 corporate clients, managing more than 200 wallets.
Possibility of obtaining Bitcoin ETF
KODA said in the statement that the demand for cryptocurrency custody services may rise further in the future.
Earlier this week, both… to rule And Opposition parties The South Korean Bitcoin company announced that it plans to pledge to launch local spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) as its campaign promise ahead of the general elections on April 10. The two parties also pledged to lift the ban restricting institutional investments in cryptocurrencies.
“Given the influx of global capital markets such as the US and Hong Kong, the institutionalization of digital assets is already irreversible, and I believe KODA will play a major role in the infrastructure if the Bitcoin ETF is approved in Korea,” Cho Jin Seok, CEO of KODA, said in the statement.
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