Digital asset custody firm BitGo has secured South Korea’s SK Telecom and Hana Financial as major shareholders and strategic partners in its regional arm, BitGo Korea.
Hana Financial has acquired a 25% stake in BitGo Korea, while SK Telecom took a 10% stake, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe announced at the Korea Blockchain Week 2024 in Seoul. The joint venture with Hana Bank, initially formed earlier this year, builds on a partnership between BitGo and Hana Bank established in September 2023.
The two South Korean companies will help BitGo Korea expand its footprint in the local market and pave the way for the institutionalization of cryptocurrency in the country. Hana Financial pledged to strengthen the local crypto sector by providing reliable custody services, while SK Telecom plans to contribute expertise in user authentication, security, and identity verification.
BitGo Korea is currently seeking a license as a virtual asset service provider in South Korea. Established in 2013, BitGo manages roughly $70 billion in assets under custody and about 20% of all on-chain bitcoin transactions.
Hana Financial Group, South Korea’s third-largest financial institution, had total assets of about 592 trillion won ($441.4 billion) at the end of 2023, according to local reports. SK Telecom, the leading telecommunications provider in South Korea, controls around 40% of the market.
BitGo has recently received approval for a Major Payment Institution license from Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The U.S.-based wallet infrastructure provider and digital asset custodian said the license permits it to offer a wide range of payment services, including digital payment token services, without being constrained by transaction limits applicable to smaller entities.
According to MAS data, BitGo joins 27 other MPI-licensed firms, including major crypto players like Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Ripple have also obtained complete MPI licenses in the country.
This expansion mirrors moves by other players in the industry, such as Coinbase Custody, which opened an office in Ireland, and Fidelity Digital Assets, which launched a branch in the U.K. Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank AG also applied for regulatory approval to operate as a cryptocurrency custodian in Germany. The Deutsche Bank’s digital asset custody prototype caters specifically to institutional clients to establish a seamless connection between them and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.
