Kookmin Bank, one of the largest banks in South Korea, is preparing to offer crypto investment products to its retail investors. In an official statement by the bank released on Monday, Honggun Kim, KB’s head of quantitative indices, confirmed: “We are going to launch an equity fund on the subject of virtual assets, etc. We also plan to publish periodicals.”
Notably, if KB carries on with its plans, it will become the first bank in South Korea to offer crypto investment products to retail investors.
ETFs Among Products to be Considered
The South Korean bank which has approximately $520 billion worth of assets under management (AUM), has already formed a Digital Asset Management Preparatory Committee.
The committee is tasked with determining the capabilities of products and strategies regarding digital assets and artificial intelligence investment funds. It will also assess the risks and compliance issues associated with crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures products that the bank expects to launch.
To provide collateral on core investments, KB is currently considering launching a crypto investment index fund or any other crypto exposure fund that uses outsourced investment managers such as Grayscale and Fidelity.
Institutional Interest in Crypto Assets Continues to Grow
The latest development by KB is the bank’s way of responding to a market that has no doubt become increasingly open-minded to crypto investments and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Demand for banks to offer crypto services continues to grow on a daily basis, reminding these institutions of the need to meet these demands if they want to retain their clients.
In February last year, several South Korean retail investors removed their funds from traditional stocks and reinvested them in bitcoin and other crypto assets.
South Korea has seen some of its major banks make some crypto-related moves. Shinhan’s undefined competitor, for example, recently dedicated an entire section of its mobile banking app to helping customers manage their NFT collections on blockchain platform, Klayn.
Banks in other countries are also not left out in this aspect. Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, recently revealed plans to extend its crypto trading services to retail investors by launching a retail crypto trading desk.
