Kookmin Bank is preparing to become the first bank in South Korea to offer crypto investment products to retail investors.
On February 21, Kookmin Bank of Korea announced that it established a digital asset management preparatory committee to determine the product and strategic capabilities of digital assets and artificial intelligence investment funds. The bank is expected to launch crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures products. The committee will also assess investment funds for risk and compliance issues.
Honggun Kim, KB’s head of index quantitative management, confirmed the plans in the bank’s official press release. "We will launch a stock fund themed on virtual assets, etc. We also plan to publish a journal," he said.
KB Financial Group is South Korea's largest company by net profit as of September 2021, with total assets of about $520 billion, according to research platform MacroTrends.
The current plan is to launch a cryptocurrency investment index fund and a fund that uses an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO), also known as outsourced investment management, to guarantee principal investments. OCIO funds may also be used for retirement pensions.
Such OCIOs to consider include Grayscale and Fidelity Asset Management, both of which offer cryptocurrency investment funds. Fidelity Canada launched a spot bitcoin ETF in December, but such a product has yet to be approved in the United States.
In launching a new investment fund for clients, KB is addressing a market that is increasingly accepting investments in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Rival Shinhan Bank has dedicated an entire section of its mobile banking app to helping customers manage their NFT collections on Klaytn, South Korea’s leading blockchain platform.
KB is currently following Singapore’s DBS Bank (DBS) in announcing a new retail cryptocurrency investment product. DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said on Feb. 14 that the bank will work to scale up its crypto business in 2022.
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