[2018-01-19] S. Korea: Major Banks’ Income From Crypto Accounts Up X36 From 2016

[cybersofts]

S. Korea: Major Banks’ Income From Crypto Accounts Up X36 From 2016



Recently published data from the South KoreanFinancial Superv isory Service (FSS) shows that in 2017 several major South Korean banks have earned 2.2 bln won ($2 mln) in commissions from virtual accounts for cryptocurrency investing, a sum 36 times higher than the 61 mln won ($57,340) made the previous year, local news agency Yonhap reports.

The data on the banks’ income was gathered during an unprecedented financial probe conducted by the FSS and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), first announced Jan. 7.

The probe inspected six major banks, Woori Bank, Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, NongHyup Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, and Korea Development Bank, to ensure that they were effectively preventing money laundering in their handling virtual accounts handling cryptocurrency.

According to Yonhap, The Industrial Bank of Korea reported 675 mln won ($634,500), with NongHyup Bank not far behind with a reported 654 mln won ($614,760).

Since last week, a wave of controversy has arisen in South Korea over the government’s attempts to more strictly regulate crypto markets, like the banning of the use of anonymous virtual accounts connected to crypto exchanges, forbidding underage citizens and foreigners to invest in crypto markets, and falsely announcing a total blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading.

On Jan. 16, a South Korean petition against the regulation of virtual currency reached over 200,000 signatures, now requiring an official response from the government.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/s-korea-major-banks-income-from-crypto-accounts-up-x36-from-2016

[Tylev]

I see that the people of South Korea are quite vigorously defending their right to anonymous occupation of the crypto currency and trading it without excessive regulation. Against the background of the fact that commission fees from the exchange of crypto currency brings quite a good profit to banks, this can bring a good result. Moreover, this country has always been among the countries with the most significant volume of trade in the crypto currency.

[davis196]

2 million USD in commissions for one year is a very small number.The South Korean banks make billions of USD in fees every year.That small amount doesn`t prove that the major Korean banks care about cryptocurrency adoption.I would sign the petition against the regulation of cryptocurrency trading in South Korea,but unfortunately,i`m a foreigner.I don`t know why foreigners are banned from cryptocurrency trading with Korean platforms.It looks like the South Korean government doesn`t want foreign investors,which is ridiculous.

[jamids]

The increase is expected since the prices of coins increase significantly so it is to be expected that more people would be trading because they would be entice to be part of the hype. If they are earning that much then it would not be good for them if they would stop the trading of it since I think a huge bulk of their income for the year comes from the cryptocurrencies. There is just a need for regulation but the total ban is just ridiculous unless the government is just afraid of cryptocurrency so it would not be surprising to ban it.