Bitcoin rally significantly benefits online-only Kbank in Korea

Kyobo Life Insurance, one of South Korea’s largest life insurers, has become a participant in the recently launched public testnet for Circle Internet Group’s Arc. This new open layer-1 blockchain network aims to serve a broad range of use cases, including lending, capital markets, foreign exchange (FX), and global payments.Photo by Kindel Media on PexelsNotable global participants in the Arc networkAccording to a press release from Circle, published on Oct. 28, multiple prominent banks and asset managers are also engaging with the Arc network. Kyobo Life stands as the only South Korean entity involved in the initiative. Other notable global participants include BlackRock, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, SBI Holdings, and Standard Chartered. This move comes on the heels of Kyobo Life’s earlier participation in a stablecoin project spearheaded by the Seoul-based Open Blockchain & Decentralized Identifier (DID) Association. This highlights the insurer’s growing interest in exploring business opportunities within the digital assets space. Korean crypto exchanges step up oversightAs cryptocurrencies gain increasing recognition as a new asset class, South Korean exchanges have become more vigilant in monitoring user activities, partly to curb potential criminal behavior. A report by Money Today revealed that over the past six years, local trading platforms have halted a total of 82.9 billion won ($58.1 billion) in crypto withdrawals. Among these, Bithumb accounted for the largest share, suspending withdrawals totaling 50.5 billion won ($35.4 million) from 2020 to September 2025. Upbit suspended 25.6 billion won ($18 billion) in the same period, while other exchanges like Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax reported more modest suspensions. These actions are largely in response to the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which came into effect in July 2024. The Act aims to enhance oversight and safeguard consumers, reflecting the government’s intent to regulate the sector more tightly. Surge in Korea-Cambodia stablecoin tradingParallel to these regulatory developments, a dramatic surge in stablecoin trading volume has been observed between South Korea and Cambodia. According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) reported by the Seoul Shinmun, transactions between five major South Korean exchanges and Cambodia’s Huione Guarantee skyrocketed to 12.8 billion won ($8.98 million) in 2024, marking a staggering 1,400-fold increase compared to just 9.22 million won ($6,500) in 2023. This rise in activity coincides with recently uncovered criminal cases originating from Cambodia and has raised concerns about illicit practices within the crypto market. In response to these concerns, crypto exchanges are bolstering their efforts to cooperate with law enforcement. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, was recently honored with a commendation by the South Korean Minister of the Interior and Safety for its contributions to enhancing cybercrime investigations and administrative capabilities. This accolade comes amid Binance’s increasing presence in South Korea. Binance, which had acquired Gopax ahead of regulatory approval, has now received clearance from local financial authorities to become the Korean trading platform’s largest shareholder. Public sentiment on Binance’s acquisition of GopaxA recent survey conducted by CoinNess and the community-voting app Cratos, which polled 2,000 South Koreans, provided insights into the public’s perception of Binance’s acquisition of Gopax. Among respondents, 38.8% indicated that their decision to use the rebranded platform would depend on the benefits it offered compared to other exchanges, while 23.6% said they were already planning to use it. Together, these figures suggest that 62.4% of participants are open to the platform, although some are conditioned on its advantages. However, 27.5% rejected the platform entirely, and 10.2% stated they do not use local exchanges at all. As South Korea deepens its role in the global digital asset ecosystem, its growing participation in initiatives like Circle’s Arc network reflects an ambition to align with international finance trends. At the same time, stricter oversight and cross-border monitoring signal a firm commitment to transparency. The balance it strikes between innovation and regulation will define its path in the global crypto arena. 

Nomura Subsidiary Launches Bitcoin Adoption FundNomura, Japan’s largest investment bank and brokerage group boasting over $500 billion in assets, has ventured further into the world of digital assets by unveiling its Bitcoin Adoption Fund through its digital asset subsidiary, Laser Digital Asset Management.The move signifies a further commitment from the Japanese financial services conglomerate in embracing digital innovation within the financial sector. The fund will cater specifically to institutional investors looking to explore the expanding area of digital assets.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashEnabling long-term Bitcoin exposureLaser Digital Asset Management is introducing the Bitcoin Adoption Fund as the first installment in a series of digital adoption investment solutions crafted with institutional investors in mind. The firm announced details of the new fund via a press release published to its website on Tuesday.The primary objective of this fund is to provide institutional investors with a long-term avenue for exposure to Bitcoin, enabling them to partake in the potential gains offered by the world’s most well-known digital asset.Sebastian Guglietta, Head of Laser Digital Asset Management, underscored Bitcoin’s pivotal role in ushering in a transformative global economic shift and posits that long-term exposure to Bitcoin is the ideal means for investors to harness this profound macroeconomic trend.“Technology is a key driver of global economic growth and is transforming a large part of the economy from analogue to digital,” Guglietta said. “Bitcoin is one of the enablers of this long-lasting transformational change and long-term exposure to Bitcoin offers a solution to investors to capture this macro trend,” he added.Komainu partnershipIn bringing the fund to market, Laser Digital has partnered with digital asset custodian Komainu. Komainu was founded in 2018 as a collaborative endeavor between Nomura, Ledger, and CoinShares.Nomura’s foray into digital assets is by no means a newfound interest. As early as September 2022, the firm had initiated its digital asset venture capital arm, positioning itself at the vanguard of digital innovation. In addition to this, Laser Digital secured a trading license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) to operate within the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Nomura’s launch of the Bitcoin Adoption Fund is in perfect alignment with the broader trend of heightened institutional interest in Bitcoin-centric investment products. Regulatory bodies globally have granted approval for a range of Bitcoin-focused investment products in recent years, including Bitcoin-based futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These developments underscore the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies within traditional finance circles.Laser Digital was founded by Nomura executives Steven Ashley and Jez Mohideen. Ashley previously led Nomura’s wholesale division while Mohideen was Nomura’s Chief Digital Officer and Co-Head of Global Markets for the EMEA region. The firm has invested in Singapore-based DeFi startup, Solv Protocol.It has registered as a mutual fund via the Cayman Islands Regulatory Authority, while the company has registered for product marketing purposes in Ireland, Luxembourg, and the UK.

Chinese Prosecutors Issue Warning on NFTsIn recent days, China’s top procuratorial agency, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China, issued a warning alongside some guidelines on non-fungible tokens (NFTs).The Supreme People’s Procuratorate is the highest office in China charged with the mandate of upholding legal integrity, safeguarding citizens’ rights, and where necessary, conducting criminal investigations. In a statement published on Monday, the agency set out an advisory, together with additional recommendations, pertaining to NFTs.Photo by Markus Winkler on PexelsNFT status in ChinaWhile all and sundry are aware of a multi-year crack-down by the Chinese authorities on crypto in recent times, exemplified by a ban on crypto trading and the operation of crypto mining facilities within the country’s borders, the status of NFTs has been discussed to a much lesser degree.NFTs remain legal within the country. When the crypto trading ban came into play in 2021, much of the local industry connected with that trading activity disappeared. However, in its place, a newly emergent trend came to the fore in the form of NFTs. With cryptocurrencies perceived as being high risk and sanctioned by the authorities, attention turned to NFTs and there has been a surge of adoption of the digital collectibles within China as a consequence.NFT risksThe procuratorial agency highlighted a number of attributes as well as risks in relation to NFTs in the report that it published. The agency finds the issue of ownership of NFTs as a troublesome one. It cites the fact that NFTs can be replicated and distributed at will on this basis as being particularly problematic. The legitimacy of the right source of the work itself is the decisive factor for the healthy and orderly development of digital works NFT transactions,” it states.It appears that the agency, like many in traditional professional circles before them, have a difficulty recognizing the model of asset ownership that NFTs incorporate. That ownership is not defined by civil law or in accordance with centralized systems but by simply the possession of the requisite private key pertaining to a given NFT within a decentralized system.Blockchain, not cryptoThe agency acknowledged that NFTs do present a novel application of blockchain technology. This is not surprising as while there might be an ongoing clampdown on decentralized cryptocurrencies in China, officials at a national level and in numerous instances within regional administrations, are demonstrating a strategy of leveraging blockchain technology for the betterment of the Chinese economy in the future.Public prosecutor Wang Xia-fen, one of the authors of the report, stated: “It’s widely recognized that digital collectibles have the potential to protect intellectual property rights, boost content creation and enrich the digital economy.” Wang encouraged public prosecutors to “find the distinction between real innovation and criminal activities” where NFTs are concerned.The upshot of its report though, is that the procuratorial agency is uncomfortable with the similarity of many of the attributes of NFTs when compared with decentralized cryptocurrencies. It issued a warning on that basis, emphasizing a need for risk assessment to be carried out and further consideration of the legal risks that are implicated.