U.S. virtual asset exchange FTX is reportedly in talks to acquire Bithumb, the second-largest virtual asset exchange in Korea. Yet, sources informed in the matter say that the deal may be hampered by legal risks involving Lee Jung-hoon, the former chairman of Bithumb Holdings who is on trial for fra
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on July 27 that it is investigating abnormal foreign exchange transactions in the domestic banking sector and the scale of the transactions amounts to 7 trillion won or so, including approximately 4 trillion won at Shinhan and Woori Banks.“Most of th
The Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Customs Service, the prosecution and the police are looking into abnormal foreign exchange transactions at major banks.Their investigations are currently underway at Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank and the on-site investigations are targeting remittances to J
The stock price of Vidente has soared as the news broke out that FTX, a U.S. crypto trading platform, is in acquisition talks with Bithumb, the No. 1 digital asset trading platform in Korea.Vidente, which is listed on Kosdaq, closed at 11,900 won on July 25, up 29.77 percent from the previous tradin
The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on July 21 that foreigners’ interest income and capital gains derived from investment in government and monetary stabilization bonds would become tax-free and the introduction of financial investment income tax and cryptocurrency taxation would be postpo
Samsung Electronics’ 3-nm chip launching ceremony is scheduled for July 25. The company started the mass production of the most advanced semiconductor product in the world on June 30. The first batch of the product considerably improved in power consumption, performance and area will be supplied to
The Financial Supervisory Service recently investigated 1.3 trillion won and 800 billion won foreign exchange transactions at Shinhan and Woori Banks, respectively. According to the agency, the abnormal transactions were related to arbitrage cryptocurrency trading, and it sent the cases to the prose
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at sokang@shinhan.com and kimaram@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Success of Mir M to drive full-fledged earnings growthMir M, released on 23 June, currently ranks fourth on Google Play in terms of gross sales. Daily average
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Com2uS Holdings’ share price has slipped as of late on falling prices for its crypto assets, uncertainties towards the P2E game market, and tepid earnings. But, viewing most of this bad news as a
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. We anticipate a recovery in Com2uS’s game sales from 2Q22 and a rebound in sales at WYSIWYG Studios (subsidiary) from 2H22. The launch schedules of some planned P2E games may be delayed due to Te
Cryptocurrency market watchers pointed out that the Luna Foundation Guard recently transferred US$3.5 billion of BTC to Gemini and Binance and the fund is currently untraceable.“How the foundation used the huge amount of BTC cannot be found as of now,” one of them said, adding, “One of the possibili
Cryptocurrencies LUNA and UST have been delisted by multiple South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges.After the recent LUNA plunge, UPbit announced on May 13 that trading would become unavailable at 12:00, May 20 and withdrawal would become unavailable on June 20. Gopax also announced that LUNA trading
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Despite high expectations for the P2E game market following MIR4’s success last year, Wemade’s share price has performed sluggishly due to an absence of new games and the falling price of the WEM
SK Group has surpassed Hyundai Motor Group to become the second-largest business conglomerate in Korea in terms of assets.The Fair Trade Commission announced on April 27 that it has designated 76 large business groups with assets exceeding 5 trillion won as corporate groups subject to public disclos
UPbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit linked their travel rule solutions and cryptocurrency transfer between the four exchanges is now available again.The transfer between UPbit and the others was blocked on March 25 regarding the travel rule stipulated in the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Finan
The domestic virtual asset market is expected to reach 1,000 trillion won within five years, and yet South Korean blockchain and cryptocurrency companies are facing too many business constraints. For example, initial coin offering is illegal in South Korea, where companies in the blockchain industry
Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit interconnected their travel rule solutions on April 8, allowing users to send and receive cryptocurrencies among themselves, regardless of the amount. CODE, their joint venture, is planning to expand the interconnection to cover more exchanges. According to the Act on Rep
Shinhan Bank issued corporate won accounts for virtual asset transactions to cryptocurrency exchange Korbit on April 7, the first case since the implementation of the revised Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information in September last year.Previously, corporations were no
Kakao Piccoma, a Kakao subsidiary in Japan, has recently acquired more than half of Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Sakura Exchange Bitcoin.Sakura Exchange Bitcoin has become Kakao’s first subsidiary that is a cryptocurrency exchange. The size of the investment is undisclosed. The purpose of the ac
Securities companies are increasing their investments in blockchain, virtual asset and metaverse startups.For instance, Mirae Asset Securities made a series B investment in bHaptics on Feb. 15. bHaptics connects the tactile sensation to content and sells related products such as vests and warmers.On