Korean Financial Watchdog: Investor Protection Boosts Crypto Market

Maple Finance Secures $5 Million to Fund Asia ExpansionMaple Finance, a crypto capital network focused on institutional business, has recently concluded a funding round that raised $5 million, with a view towards using the funds to finance an expansion into the Asian market.Maple Finance operates as a platform that empowers lending pool delegates and credit professionals to establish their own credit facilities on the blockchain. These facilities cater to different borrowers who can draw from these pools.Notably, Icebreaker Finance initiated a $300 million lending pool on Maple to assist Bitcoin miners in 2022. Maple Finance functions as the infrastructure atop which these lending pools are built, with pool delegates and lenders independently evaluating and verifying their risk.Photo by Monstera on PexelsMaple Direct lendingThe capital infusion was led by Blocktower Capital and Tioga Capital, with participation from supporters including GSR Ventures, Cherry Crypto, Veris Ventures, and Spartan Capital. This funding will not only facilitate Maple Finance’s expansion endeavors but will also fuel the growth of its newly introduced pure-play lending division, Maple Direct.Maple Finance has spotted an opportunity that has opened up due to the collapse of lending giants like Genesis Lending, BlockFi, Voyager, and Celsius in the institutional lending space. In addition to its role as a platform for facilitating third-party pool creation, Maple Direct was launched in June. It offers overcollateralized loans secured by Bitcoin, Ethereum, and staked Ethereum as collateral.Sydney Powell, the firm’s Co-Founder and CEO explained that Maple Direct is designed to offer an over-collateralized lending product transparently on-chain, providing a differentiated approach in the market. Unlike other platforms, borrowed collateral isn’t rehypothecated for yield generation; instead, it is securely held with a qualified custodian. This strategy positions Maple Finance to cater to market demand while minimizing risk.Strategic expansionPowell told TechCrunch: “I think now is the time to do that because all the other competition exited, and so that’s created this opportunity for us to step in and offer a product.” He expanded further on how the company is thinking strategically, relative to the expansion of the services it is now offering: “Other players try to focus on just trying to build the technology, kind of like Uber and Airbnb. What we’ve tried to do is to act as an underwriter so we need to show credit expertise. I think it gives us a little bit more control over the outcome and it’s a little bit closer to Apple in that it’s more vertically integrated.”Pushing into AsiaThe newly raised funds are earmarked for global expansion, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. This is a strategic move, considering that several jurisdictions in APAC, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, have adopted pro-crypto regulations.“In Asia, you have regulatory clarity, or rather, regulatory support, both coming out of Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of new legislation that’s come through, and you already have a very heavy trading focus over there,” Powell stated.Maple’s product development is ongoing. Earlier this month, the company launched a Treasury Bill Pool that provides accredited investors with access to US Treasury Bills with what it claims is a “risk-free rate” of return, given that the pool generates a yield of 4.67%.

South Korea’s cryptocurrency market is moving through a period of stricter oversight and policy debate, while major industry players pursue overseas listings against a backdrop of falling market valuations and weaker investor sentiment.Photo by Ori Song on UnsplashAccording to Newsis, financial regulators are close to finalizing penalties for the country’s major crypto exchanges after a wide-ranging review of their compliance systems. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is preparing to issue sanctions such as institutional warnings, fines, and personnel measures against platforms found to have breached anti-money laundering (AML) rules. These actions follow a series of on-site inspections that began in August 2024 with Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, and were later extended to Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. Authorities plan to determine and announce penalties in the order of these inspections, which concluded in April 2025. Stablecoin debate growsAt the same time, a policy debate is unfolding in the parliament over how far South Korea should go in supporting digital asset innovation. The Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byoung-dug has questioned the Bank of Korea’s cautious stance on launching a won-backed stablecoin. The central bank has identified seven main risks associated with such an asset, including possible de-pegging and threats to monetary policy stability. Min argues that the bank is placing too much weight on these micro-level risks. In a recent report, he contended that delaying innovation could lead to larger, structural economic losses and said the risks identified by the central bank can be managed through oversight and product design rather than by avoiding stablecoins altogether. Dunamu–Naver deal targets NasdaqIn the corporate sector, major fintech firms are pushing ahead with international expansion plans. Naver Financial and Dunamu, which operates the Upbit exchange, have endorsed a merger plan involving a comprehensive share swap, according to The Herald Business. The share swap ratio has been set at 2.54 to 1. This development follows earlier reports that the two firms were close to an agreement intended to support a future Nasdaq listing in the United States. Bitcoin slide persistsThese regulatory, legislative, and corporate developments are taking place as market conditions deteriorate. Global data show weakening demand, with spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recording about $3.5 billion in net outflows in November, according to Bloomberg, while CoinMarketCap data show Bitcoin prices down roughly 24% over the past month.  Domestic sentiment reflects this caution. In a weekly survey conducted by CoinNess and Cratos, 59.5% of South Korean investors said over the weekend that they expect Bitcoin prices to fall or crash this week, up from 43.6% a week earlier. Only 12.4% of respondents forecast a price increase. Views on the broader market cycle are also shifting. In the same survey, 42.9% of participants said they believe the bull market has already ended. Reflecting this sentiment, Alternative.me’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 15, in the “Extreme Fear” zone as of Nov. 26. 

Bank of Korea and Samsung Team Up for Offline CBDC ResearchIn a move aimed at advancing central bank digital currency (CBDC) technology, the Bank of Korea (BOK) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Samsung Electronics on Monday, according to a press release. The agreement was sealed during a signing ceremony attended by Lee Seung-heon, BOK’s Senior Deputy Governor, and Choi Won-joon, Executive Vice President and Head of Development in the Mobile Experience (MX) Division at Samsung Electronics.Under the terms of the MoU, both parties have committed to ongoing research on CBDC issued by the Bank of Korea, with a specific focus on collaboration in the offline payment sector. Samsung Electronics had previously participated in the second phase of the CBDC simulation study conducted by the BOK last year.Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric on PexelsCBDC without InternetThe company’s efforts have led to the development of an offline CBDC technology that facilitates transfers and payments via near-field communication (NFC) between devices without requiring an internet connection. These transactions are conducted within the embedded secure element (eSE) chip of Samsung Electronics’ mobile devices, which holds one of the highest levels of security certification, CC EAL 6+.The Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) is a numeric grading system that measures the security level of tech products and systems according to the Common Criteria (CC) security standard. It ranges from EAL0 to EAL7, with EAL7 representing the highest level of security.Leveraging this technology, the BOK and Samsung will continue their joint research to enhance security in offline payments using Samsung Galaxy smartphones and watches. Additionally, they aim to provide support for stable payments in situations where network connectivity is disrupted, such as during disasters.Growing interest in CBDCsGiven the global interest in CBDCs, with central banks worldwide exploring their potential, the research collaboration between the BOK and Samsung assumes great significance. The results of this partnership will guide further cooperative efforts to develop the international CBDC ecosystem.BOK Senior Deputy Governor Lee Seung-heon emphasized the significance of the joint achievement, expressing optimism that the partnership would keep Korea at the forefront of offline CBDC technology.Samsung’s Executive Vice President Choi Won-joon underscored that the company’s collaboration with the Korean central bank allowed Samsung to utilize its advanced security technology in digital currency. He expected their combined efforts would considerably contribute to the global development of CBDC technology.