The Financial Services Commission announced that the number of customers of the four major cryptocurrency exchanges (UPbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit) was 5,873,000 on May 3. “Their average investment was approximately four million won and the number of customers has increased very rapidly this ye
Major banks are refusing to provide real-name accounts for cryptocurrency exchanges, which can no longer do business without such accounts starting from September this year. Their refusal is because a partnership with a cryptocurrency exchange entails huge risks related to the possibility of money l
Most South Korean banks are not planning to form any partnership with cryptocurrency exchanges. In addition, Shinhan Bank and NH Bank, which provided real-name accounts for cryptocurrency exchanges, are making no comment on whether to extend their contracts with the exchanges.Those exchanges’ risks
CoinMarketCap data showed that the 24-hour trading value at the 14 domestic cryptocurrency exchanges that support Korean won-based trading exceeded 47.7 trillion won at 15:30, May 20. For reference, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ trading value was 21.6 trillion won that day.“Cryptocurrency prices plunged that
The 24-hour trading value at the 14 domestic cryptocurrency exchanges that support Korean won-based trading was 25.8517 trillion won as of 11:00, May 16. The value decreased by approximately one trillion won in one day. The four major exchanges, that is, Bithumb, UPbit, Korbit and Coinone accounted
Trading delays occurred on May 11 at Bithumb and UPbit, the two biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea. They explained that trading volumes exceeding their system capacities led to the accidents.On Bithumb, the BTC price soared from approximately 72 million won to close to 78 million won at
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY; Revise up TP by 4.7% to KRW135,000 We maintain BUY on Kakao as we lift our TP by 4.7% to KRW135,000. While our revenue and OP forecasts have been left largely unchanged, we have revised up 2021E and
It has been one month since the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information became effective so that money laundering can be prevented by cryptocurrency exchanges. However, every cryptocurrency exchange has yet to complete the related reporting procedures in relation to th
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Gamevil’s anticipated new title, Arcana Tactics, failed to maintain its initial performance, with its sales rankings trending downwards. The company’s EV is undervalued considering the value of i
Nexon announced on April 28 that Nexon Japan bought 1,717 Bitcoins by investing US$100 million. “The average purchase price is US$58,226 and the total purchase is less than 2 percent of Nexon’s cash and cash equivalents,” it explained.At present, Nexon is in control of Nexon Japan via NXC, an unlist
The Seoul Main Customs of the Korea Customs Service announced on April 27 that it detected 61 foreigners who illegally purchased apartments in Seoul by investigating 500 persons who bought apartments priced at over 500 million won in Seoul for the past three years with the source of the money unclea
Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki remarked on April 27 that virtual assets are neither currencies nor financial assets and that taxation on income from virtual assets will be initiated next year as scheduled.“The South Korean government uses the term of virtual asset instead of cryptocurrency and vi
Upbit, a Korean cryptocurrency exchange, has limited one-time and one-day Korean-won deposits to 100 million won and 500 million won, respectively. The exchange took the action at 3:30 p.m. on April 26.Previously, members with accounts under their real names could deposit money unlimitedly. Upbit ex
Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo remarked on April 22 that the South Korean government is not going to protect virtual currency investors.“The government’s view on the cryptocurrency market is that it is a market of highly speculative virtual assets without any intrinsic value,” t
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY; Revise up TP to KRW645,000 We maintain BUY on Kakao as we raise our TP 19.4% to KRW645,000. We have revised up our 2021E and 2022E NP (attributable to controlling interests) forecasts by 8.8% and 7.7
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at hwdoh@nhqv.com. -- Ed. In an effort to resolve foundry supply shortages, GlobalFoundries is to hike its 2021 investment to US$1.4bn (+100% y-y). Elsewhere, SEC is increasing 2021 DRAM capacity investment versus previous pla
The latest Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information is scheduled to become effective soon, and then virtual currency exchanges must have real-name accounts to continue with their business. However, banks are hesitating to give the accounts out of concerns over money lau
The won-based Bitcoin trading volume at the top two domestic cryptocurrency exchanges increased approximately 10-fold in just one year.Specifically, the trading volume at UPbit, which had been 1,627.9 billion won in January 2020 and less than three trillion won until October, jumped to 3,921.9 billi
The South Korean government has decided to impose a tax on an annual cryptocurrency trading profit of 2.5 million won or more. The measure will be implemented next year.In the global cryptocurrency market, the Bitcoin price is moving around US$50,000 after having jumped about 70 percent in six weeks
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at hwdoh@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Semiconductors such as GPUs, automotive semiconductors, SiCs, and APs, are all in short supply. While demand is sound, the main issue is a lack of manufacturing facilities. We expect the supply shorta