South Korean KB Bank is looking at digital assets and cryptocurrencies as their next expansion into a more digital world. KB Bank, one of the largest bank in the Asian country, has create digital currency custody and management service in partnership with blockchain venture capital firm Hashed and digital currency exchange Cumberland.
Korea Digital Asset (KODA) will offer a wide array of services, ranging from anti-money laundering solutions to over-the-counter trading for corporations. In this last case you can think about cryptocurrency exchanges. KODA will launch in closed beta for businesses in December.
According to Naver News the initiative by KB Bank also paves the way for other digital assets besides cryptocurrencies. They mention that non-fungible tokens would also be part a future part of the banks plans.
The South Korean government is warming up to embracing cryptocurrencies, digital assets and blockchain technology. They are also giving cryptocurrency holders another three months before a new taxation rule is implemented in January 2022. The rule requires crypto holders to pay 20 percent of their profits above 2.5 million KRW, or $2259.
Currently the most active fields for non-fungible tokens are virtual worlds and crypto art. In addition gaming plays a major role as well. However, the field of non-fungible tokens has the clear potential to go well beyond that. An NFT can be a contract, an insurance or it can state ownership over a house. Trading in usage of non-fungible tokens is slowly broadening in scope, as cryptocurrency exchange also start paying interest.
