Viva Republica, operator of financial technology app Toss with more than 20 million registered users, said Wednesday it is considering an initial public offering in 2025, hinting at a possible market debut in the US. “We‘re not in a hurry and we will consider an IPO in earnest three years down the road, and could go public around 2025,“ said Lee Seung-gun, founder and CEO of Viva Republica, adding that the IPO could take place either in Korea or overseas. The company expe

Upbit, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, said on Monday it would take legal action against PicaProject, which accused the exchange of misusing its coins to prompt a delisting. PicaProject’s digital coin Pica was among 24 digital tokens that Upbit removed from its platform on Friday. In response, PicaProject accused the exchange of misusing the funds to the tune of 5 million Pica coins intended for marketing events when it went public in January this year. According

Coming under increasing pressure from financial regulators, local cryptocurrency exchanges have hastily delisted dozens of digital coins, but the removals create negative impact on investors, experts said on Friday. Since Upbit announced its decision to discontinue the trading of five coins on June 11, two more exchange - Bithumb and Coinbit - joined the move with sudden delisting and investment warnings. “Inadequate digital tokens certainly have to be removed from the market but hasty d

The regulatory Financial Services Commission on Thursday said that it will add detailed measures to the legislation governing cryptocurrency exchanges in an effort to tame their attempts at price fixing. Cryptocurrency exchanges will be banned from handling digital tokens issued by themselves or affiliated people, according to a pre-announcement of the revisions made to the enforcement decree of for the Specified Financial Transaction Information. Executives and employees of an exchange are ba

The South Korean entertainment agency behind the global sensation BTS saw its market valuation exceed 10 trillion won ($8.95 billion) for the first time, as the boy band’s new single “Butter” swept global charts. After closing at 282,000 won per share on the nation’s main bourse Kospi Monday, Hybe’s market valuation exceeded 10 trillion won and continued its winning streak on Tuesday rising 2.48 percent to 289,000 won at close. The benchmark Kospi, the country&ls

KB Asset Management announced Monday that it has launched the industry’s first metaverse fund. KB Asset Management said it will invest in 30 to 50 stocks after considering 200 to 300 stocks in South Korea, the US, China and Japan that meet the investment conditions. The US stocks will account for 70 percent, the highest proportion of any country, while hardware and platforms will make up 30 percent each. The fund will be investing in Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Autodesk, NVDIA, Unity So

Digital coins that were flagged for delisting and given warnings by South Korea’s largest digital asset exchange Upbit plunged over the weekend as financial regulators tightened its grip on the cryptocurrency market. The double-digit plunge in prices came after Upbit on Friday announced that it planned to halt the trading of five digital tokens while issuing “investment warning” on 25 cryptocurrencies. Maro, Paycoin, Observer, Solve.Care and Quiztok will be delisted from th

An official green light given to the insurance unit of Kakao Pay and three peer-to-peer companies will pave the way for the country’s innovation in finance, industry experts said Thursday.  The Financial Services Commission has given a preliminary approval of Kakao Pay’s insurance subsidiary as an online-only insurance firm, the regulator announced on Thursday. Kakao Pay will become the country’s first digital-only general insurance company. A digital-focused insurance

Toss Bank on Wednesday received final approval from the Financial Services Commission to operate as the nation’s third mobile-only bank. Now that it has the green light, Toss is set to jump into South Korea’s fast-growing online banking market, currently dominated by KakaoBank and K bank. Toss Bank -- backed by Viva Republica, the operator of fintech app Toss -- will officially launch as early as September. Toss Bank will operate within the existing Toss app to take advantage of

South Korea’s market regulator, the Financial Services Commission, is set to decide on Wednesday whether to approve the operations of banking and insurance units developed by financial technology companies, amid mixed expectations for their impact on a market long dominated by traditional institutions. At its monthly meeting, FSC will decide whether to approve Toss Bank and Kakao Pay’s digital-only insurance subsidiary. If approved, Toss Bank will become Korea’s third mobile

Just as people are getting used to the concept of cryptocurrencies, new terms like “DeFi,” nonfungible token and metaverse have become the talk of the town. While an increasing use of NFTs opens up a wide range of virtual services in the metaverse, investors are seeing huge business opportunities from these technologies that could reshape the digital world. And some are moving quickly to back novice blockchain startups with fresh ideas and potential. The Korea Herald met Ethan Ki

The Financial Supervisory Service has been designated to man the main control tower overseeing the country’s burgeoning virtual asset market, putting an end to months of discussions on who would take charge, while major cryptocurrencies fell over the weekend. In an announcement on Friday, the government delegated the FSS, the country’s financial regulator, in charge of virtual assets while the Ministry of Science and ICT will take the helm in leading the country’s blockchai

Jungheung Group, a local construction company, has expressed interest in acquiring Daewoo Engineering and Construction, but is in the process of reviewing its value and business potential, the builder said Friday. ”The company is interested in acquiring Daewoo E&C but nothing is confirmed,” an official at Jungheung said. “We’ll carefully examine the various conditions including Daewoo’s domestic and overseas business status, prospects after the acquisition an

Nonfungible tokens have seen a soaring popularity this year, but its future in South Korea remains uncertain due to legal gray areas, experts said Thursday during a conference on NFTs held in Seoul. Despite the short history of NFTs, the digital asset could create many opportunities for domestic companies as they try to add value to the fledgling technology and industry, experts said. But there are limits to bringing it into the commercial sphere as the domestic regulatory framework is not re

K bank, South Korea’s first Internet-only lender, more than doubled its paid-in capital via share purchases from major private equity funds, the bank said Wednesday. The move comes as the company gears up for the further growth amid heightened competition from other digital banks including Kakao Bank and Toss Bank. The board of directors of K bank on Wednesday morning made the decision to increase the amount of capital by 1.25 trillion won ($1.11 billion) or 192.29 million shares, to