South Korean crypto exchange GOPAX revealed Tuesday it has partnered with Jeonbuk Bank to provide clients with real-name withdrawal and deposit accounts, qualifying the exchange to offer cash-to-crypto services.
Fast facts
- After registering its new partnership with Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), GOPAX is set to become the fifth digital asset exchange that offers Korean won-to-crypto services.
- South Korean authorities have applied strict new rules to crypto businesses in efforts to minimize the risks of money laundering and market manipulation, which went into full effect in September last year.
- The rules mandate exchanges obtain a government-approved information security certificate and a local bank partner to provide verified real-name accounts.
- Exchanges that bagged the required certificate without a banking counterpart are limited to crypto-to-crypto services only, while more than half of exchanges unable to satisfy either requirements had to shut down.
- Prior to GOPAX’s banking partnership, four exchanges that met both requirements dominated about 96% of total deposits in the local crypto market.
- K Bank, partner of the nation’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, has achieved its first annual surplus last year by tripling its number of users from 2020, to which local media attribute to its Upbit partnership.