K Bank, a neobank in South Korea that has seen rapid growth thanks to its cryptocurrency operations, is set to make an initial public offering (IPO).
Unnamed financial sector officials said on March 10 that the KBank board had signed off on the move.
Goals Bank is said to now have “the target of listing on the South Korean stock exchange KOSPI within the year.”
K Bank – South Korea’s Cryptocurrency Success Story?
According to news outlet Viva100, the company is banking on “anticipated benefits” from the “recent increase in interest in Bitcoin” among cryptocurrency-enthusiastic retail investors in South Korea.
K Bank provides “real name” banking services (fiat on/off ramps) to Upbit, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
During the coronavirus pandemic, this partnership proved very successful, as K Bank was the only platform that allowed new users to sign up for accounts online.
Cryptocurrency accounts have since proven popular, with Upbit-linked accounts still making up a significant portion of the bank's revenue.
K Bank saw a rapid rise in customer registrations during previous BTC bull markets. The bank appears confident of another surge as Bitcoin continues to break all-time price records.
The new CEO, digital finance expert Choi Woo-hyung, recently took over the position of K Bank, fostering a “positive internal and external environment for preparing for the IPO,” the media noted.
More South Korean Cryptocurrency Companies Will Launch IPOs?
The media claimed that the new bank approached “major securities firms” earlier this year.
In February, the bank reportedly “selected NH Investment & Securities, KB Securities, and Bank of America (BofA) as preferred negotiating partners.”
The outlet also claimed that the bank has begun an “internal hiring process” as it forms a “dedicated IPO team.”
A previous attempt to take the bank public in South Korea ended in disappointment. K Bank has passed KOSPI's initial listing screening test while pursuing an IPO offering in 2022.
However, the bank was derailed by a stock market decline in 2022. The market slowdown forced it to effectively put its plans on hold in February 2023.
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– Bloomberg Markets (@markets) March 6, 2024
But K Bank crossed the 10 million customer mark at the end of February 2024, as the price of BTC began to rise. The media wrote:
“The average daily number of new customers this year has increased more than three times as fast as last year. The recent upward trend in Bitcoin is also acting as a positive factor for K Bank [IPO bid]”.
In 2021, during the recent BTC bull market, K Bank recorded revenue of $22.2 million in commission income from accounts linked to Upbit.
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– Bloomberg Markets (@markets) March 5, 2024
Late last year, Bithumb, Upbit's closest competitor, revealed plans to launch its own IPO. As retail investors return to the market, the trading platform and its supply are likely to be supported as Bitcoin prices continue to rise.
At the height of the 2021 BTC bull market, market analysts in South Korea claimed that Upbit operator Dunamu was planning to track Coonbase on the New York Stock Exchange.
