South Korean media: Upbit partner bank K Bank’s cryptocurrency account credit loan delinquency rate hits a new high

Data shows that the delinquency rate of credit loans for cryptocurrency accounts of South Korean bank K Bank has hit a record high. K Bank is the won account subsidiary bank of Upbit, South Korea's leading cryptocurrency exchange, which accounts for more than 70% of the country's cryptocurrency trading volume. After two consecutive failed listings, K Bank is preparing for an IPO next year, and it is pointed out that its over-reliance on Upbit and poor robustness indicators may become obstacles to its listing. According to data submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service today by the office of Kim Jae-seop, a member of the National Assembly Political Committee and a member of the People's Power Party, the delinquency rate of personal credit loans of customers using cryptocurrency-related accounts of K Bank was 1.28% as of the third quarter of this year, and the delinquency balance was 47.4 billion won. Since the bank launched cryptocurrency-linked accounts in June 2020, the delinquency rate and delinquency balance have continued to hit record highs. It is reported that K Bank will resume listing next month. The effectiveness of the preliminary listing review obtained in August this year will be valid until February next year, so the industry believes that K Bank may try to go public again before then. Some analysts believe that the recent activity in the cryptocurrency market is beneficial to K Bank because it can generate additional income by managing investor assets deposited on Upbit.