South Korea’s central bank has announced that it has picked Ground X, the blockchain division of Kakao Corporation, to participate in creating the country’s central bank digital currency.
The Bank of South Korea has been searching for businesses with technological expertise to participate in a 10-month CBDC-related deal.
Kakao Corp, a South Korean internet company, was selected by the central bank to help the government create the tech foundation for the country’s digital currency.
This initiative is in line with other countries’ efforts, especially the major ones, in creating an official digital currency for their economies to establish a regulated counterpart of the decentralized cryptocurrencies.
South Korea OTC trading on the rise
Kakao Corporation, through its subsidiary Ground X, will fulfill the task of storing and verifying unlisted investments as NFTs on its public blockchain.
Unlisted investments are defined as assets that are not traded on the open market. These assets can be traded over-the-counter or can be offered even before a public offering.
The OTC trading market in South Korea has been growing steadily over the years and at the end of 2020, the market has ballooned to $1.1 billion in market capitalization.
Challenges and opportunities ahead
The rapid growth of OTC trading in South Korea is a clear sign of the public’s increasing interest in cryptocurrencies because of their convenience.
The government has also been tightening its policies on cryptocurrencies, forcing crypto-related services to make big adjustments and follow new regulations.
Because of this situation, small cryptocurrency exchanges are finding it hard to partner with banks, and with this big challenge, some are even considering closing down operations for good.
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