In an earnings call held last week, KakaoBank, one of South Korea’s online-only banks with roughly 20 million customers, announced that it would begin offering withdrawal and deposit accounts for customers of the regional cryptocurrency exchange Coinone in November.
“[KakaoBank] is in talks to provide verified real-name deposit and withdrawal account service to Coinone customers in November in order to provide stability and convenience to virtual asset trading,” said Kim Seok, chief strategy officer (CSO) of KakaoBank, according to local media.
A cooperation between the two businesses was announced in August, although it was unclear when Coinone users would have access through KakaoBank accounts.
One of the five cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea with a license to offer customers fiat-to-crypto services is Coinone, which has complied with the local anti-money laundering regulations. One of these involves partnering with a bank to offer user accounts with actual names.
According to local media, Coinone’s collaboration with Korea’s NH Nonghyup Bank, established in September 2021, will come to an end as a result of the KakaoBank arrangement.
The cryptocurrency exchange declined to comment on whether users with NH Nonghyup accounts will have to transfer to Kakao in order to continue trading on Coinone, saying that they will soon make an announcement on how the shift will affect clients.
According to local media, Coinone is changing to raise the cap on online withdrawals and deposits.
A million Korean won (about $709) can be deposited daily using Coinone’s “simple deposit” option, although Upbit, the largest local exchange, only permits deposits of 100 million won each day. Another online-only bank, K-Bank, and Upbit are collaborating.
