Savings Bank Heavyweight OK Financial Group Reveals Cryptoasset Launch Plans
South Korea’s OK Financial Group – one of the nation’s biggest moneylenders and savings banking services providers – has unveiled plans to create a cryptoasset. The company will become one of a growing cohort of firms that are hoping to launch tokens, and this appears to indicate that the days of the nationwide ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) may be numbered.
The ban was put into place in 2017 and has forced the likes of Kakao and Hyundai Group companies to launch coins through their overseas affiliates. President Yoon Seok-yul, however, has indicated that he is prepared to lift the ban.
OK Financial Group could also choose to launch its coin abroad, should legislation unpicking the ban not roll out in time. The company said that its coin would be ready by the end of this year, reported Seoul Kyungjae.
The media outlet reported that the company will issue the coin via its OK Investment Partners (OKIP) subsidiary, and will mark a “first” for the so-called “secondary” financial industry. The company has invited blockchain companies to submit partnership proposals, and it will hear bids from firms willing to develop what it will name the OK Coin.
The company could be followed into the ICO and crypto market by scores of other domestic financial industry players, some of whom are planning their own moves. The media outlet pointed to the example of the banking giant Woori, which had hoped to release its own coin before shelving the plans when the ban was imposed.
Nevertheless, the media outlet added that rival savings banks and “other group companies in the secondary financial sector” have become “nervous” due to OK’s “rapid entry” into the crypto sphere and “are exploring business possibilities” accordingly.
The Sangsangin
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