Chinese Capital Rushing into Korean Cryptocurrency Market

As the virtual money market in China was shut down, Chinese virtual money capital is flowing into the Korean market. Investors’ expectations are growing as the number of trading places will go up, but at the same time concerns are rising that the Korean virtual money market may be dominated by Chinese capital.

According to the virtual money industry on May 29, Zeniex, a virtual currency exchange jointly established by Korea and China, opened early this month.

Zeniex is a virtual currency exchange created by financial experts of Korea and China. Zeniex received investment form China's largest security solution company Qihoo 360 and has ties with many Chinese companies such as China's blockchain and coin media Bishijie and Jinse Chaijing.

Prior to the opening of Zeniex, Chinese virtual money exchange Gate.io also started its operations in Korea this month. According to Coin Market Cap, Gate.io is currently the 18th largest exchange in the world. The world's No. 1 virtual currency exchange OK Coin also entered the Korean market last month in cooperation with NHN Entertainment and is now offering beta services. Huobi Korea, the world's third-largest virtual currency exchange, already entered the Korean market in March after signing a contract with Danal, a Korean company, to provide identification services.

Unlike the US and Japan, Korea does not have any regulations such as an approval system on the opening of a cryptocurrency exchange. There is no barrier against companies which want to enter the Korean virtual currency market.

As Chinese capital’s invasion of the Korean market gets into full swing, increasingly more and more experts are pointing out that if virtual currency regulations and systems are not put in place in Korea, the Korean virtual money market can be controlled by these Chinese exchanges.

"Chinese virtual currency exchanges are not yet competitive, but they are key players in the global market," said an official in the virtual currency industry. “If the Korean virtual money market moves into the system and Chinese exchanges receive real name accounts in the future, the Chinese exchanges will become a big threat to Korean exchanges."