November 24, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] China’s major cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin will launch services in Korea in February, according to its local unit on Jan. 19. 

OKCoin will invest through NHN Investment into its partner firm NHN Entertainment, a Korean game company that was previously part of Naver. 

“We are planning to start official services in February,” Cho Jung-hwan, CEO of OKCoin Korea, told The Investor at a cryptocurrency event in Seoul. “OKCoin has global businesses and we have been preparing the Korean launch for a long time, so there won’t be any problems.”

 

Cho was in part responding to the government’s toughened stance on cryptocurrency trade to stamp out speculation that included the possibility of shutting down local exchanges to follow in the footsteps of China. 

He stressed that OKCoin is compliant with all the Korean law requirements, including the Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering systems, as well as enabling real-name transactions. 

OKCoin Korea, which was established in December, opened its local website where users can preorder the coins before the official launch. It will begin by offering 10 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum and plans to expand the number of coin types to 60 to rival local exchanges. At Upbit, 35 different tokens are available for won-based transaction, followed by Bithumb, with 12, and Coinone, with nine. 

Established in 2013 by Star Xu, Beijing-based OKCoin was forced to shut down in China last October, following the government crackdown. In the wake of the ban, OKCoin shifted its major operations overseas, including Japan.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)