South Korea’s Crypto-keen K Bank Aims for IPO Amid BTC Boom
K Bank, a South Korean neobank that has seen rapid growth thanks laregely to its crypto operations, is set to make an initial public offering (IPO) bid.
Unnamed financial sector officials said on March 10 that K Bank’s board of directors has signed off on the move.
The goal bank now reportedly has the “goal of listing on the South Korean KOSPI stock market within the year.”
Per the news outlet Viva100, the firm is banking on “expected benefits” from a “recent increase in interest in Bitcoin” among crypto-keen South Korean retail investors.
K Bank provides “real-name” banking services (fiat on/off ramps) to Upbit, the nation’s biggest crypto exchange.
During the coronavirus pandemic, this partnership proved a huge success, as K Bank was the only platform that allowed new users to register for accounts online.
Crypto accounts have proved popular ever since, with Upbit-linked accounts still making up a large part of the bank’s revenues.
K Bank has seen a rapid rise in customer registrations during previous BTC bull markets. The bank appears confident of a further increase as Bitcoin continues to break all-time price records.
The media outlet noted that a new CEO, the digital finance expert Choi Woo-hyung, has recently taken over at K Bank, fostering a “positive internal and external environment for IPO preparation.”
The media outlet claimed the neobank reached out to “major securities companies” earlier this year.
In February the bank reportedly “selected NH Investment & Securities, KB Securities, and the Bank of America (BofA) as preferred negotiation partners.”
The outlet also claimed that the bank has begun an “internal recruitment process” as it forms a dedicated “IPO team.”
A previous bid to take the bank public in South Korea
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