Amid the increasing intensity in the cryptocurrency markets, local exchanges are reintroducing offline customer centers. Coinone, one of the four largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, reopened its in-person customer center in Seoul, the company said Thursday. Coinone initially launched its customer center in September 2017, but closed its doors two years later to focus on other businesses. The recent surge in interest in cryptocurrency transactions and as well an influx of custome

Korean-Japanese game maker Nexon on Tuesday said it spent $100 million to purchase bitcoin, joining companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy who bet on cryptocurrencies. The company listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange said it purchased 1,717 bitcoins at $58,226 on average. Bitcoin was being traded at $54,910 as of 1:35 p.m. on Wednesday. “In the current economic environment, we believe bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investme

The country’s startups attracted a record amount of investment in the first quarter, data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups showed Tuesday. During the first three months of the year, the country’s venture investments jumped 61 percent from the same period last year to a record high of 1.24 trillion won ($1.18 billion). Some 989 venture capital rounds at 558 startups were closed during the first three months in the country, the best performance recorded since 2000. Of the tota

Kakao Pay, the financial technology arm of mobile giant Kakao, is finally heading to the country’s main stock board, defying market expectations that it was considering the tech-heavy secondary market or even overseas listings. The company filed for a preliminary review for its listing to KRX , the stock market exchange, on Monday, a regulatory filing showed. According the the disclosure, the IPO is expected to be priced between 73,700 won ($66.32)and 96,300 won per

Local cryptocurrency exchange Daybit is the latest company to voluntarily shut down its operations due to the toughened anti-money laundering law, the company said Sunday. Chain Partners, which operates Daybit, said it plans to close the service by June 1, citing rigid regulations in explaining its decision. Earlier this year CPDAX, operated by blockchain technology developer Coinplug, also decided to opt out. “The operation of Daybit will be halted in phases by June 1 as we are unab

Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest crypto exchange, has been enjoying its profit surging with transactions exceeding that of global competitor Coinbase, market data showed Thursday. For the first quarter of this year, Dunamu, which operates Upbit, Korea’s largest digital coin exchange by transaction volume, is expected to see revenue of 590 billion won ($528 million) with extreme profit rates. The company’s estimated operating profit is 544 billion won and net profit at

Founders and leaders of 17 rising startups in South Korea were picked as young innovator by the Forbes in a survey that listed 300 successful entrepreneurs under age 30, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Wednesday. The list of startups includes SelectStar, Codeit, Carpenstreet, Sleek, TableManager, Devotionfoods, Happy Moonday, Glorang, The Carbon Studio, ReDwit, Classum, Juni Essentials, Neubility and Sentbe. SelectStar, which provide AI-backed data collection and annotation service, was

When Ryu Young-joon, CEO of Kakao Pay, the fintech arm of mobile giant Kakao, took charge of the business in 2015, competitiveness of South Korea’s fintech industry was lagging behind other countries worldwide, close to the bottom. Citing the World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Competitiveness Report published in 2015, Ryu said the country ranked 87th out of 140 countries in a category that measured development of the financial market and its capacity in embracing new technology.

Volatility in the local cryptocurrency market continued Tuesday, with most digital coins including Bitcoin suffering sellouts as authorities strengthen measures against suspicious trading. The extreme volatility sent Bitcoin’s value from a record high of 82 million won ($73,722) April 13 to 67 million won Tuesday, falling below 70 million won for the first time since April 7. It recovered earlier losses in the afternoon, bouncing back up to reach 69 million won. A market index developed

After achieving a strong earnings growth last year, biotech firm Avellino Labs is seeking to refocus on its pipeline with gene editing technology ahead of its planned market debut on South Korea’s secondary Kosdaq market. Unaudited financial results of the firm, born in Korea but now headquartered in the US, showed its sales shot up from $2.6 million in 2019 to $122 million in 2020 with a net income of $56 million, due to the exploding demand for its COVID-19 diagnostic testing se

The price of a bitcoin hit another record high, both in local and global exchanges, buoyed by the expectation for the highly anticipated public listing of US crypto exchange Coinbase Global. Bitcoin prices rose to above 82 million won ($73,000) on domestic exchanges early Wednesday, while the coin’s price on overseas exchanges reached new heights at $63,742 per unit. The prices for Ethereum, the second-largest digital coin by market capitalization, also touched its highest points, risin

The growing influence of YouTube stock investing channels could have a negative impact on investors’ decisions as well as the stock markets, a study showed on Tuesday. Nam Gil-nam, senior research fellow at Korea Capital Market Institute, said during a seminar titled “The implication of growing retail investors” that information from YouTube channels could distort investors’ decisions. Using an analysis of two YouTube investment channels, Nam suggested that stock pric

An ample amount of investors appears to be shifting toward other minor coins, market watchers here said on Tuesday, citing a sudden decline of trading volume of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency. According to Upbit and Bithumb, South Korea’s two leading crypto exchanges, trading volume of Bitcoins fell 40 percent last month from January apparently due to an abrupt surge in the virtual coin. The price of Bitcoin more than doubled from 31.66 million won ($28,000), the lowest point in

South Korea should create a legal framework to embrace up-and-rising digital assets, protect customers and support the growth of the industry, a group of experts said Friday. Gathering for a seminar on the legalization of digital assets including cryptocurrencies, experts including lawyers, a lawmaker and businessmen voiced concerns over the government’s cautious approach that could hinder the development and soaring activities of digital assets. During the seminar, Park Jong-baek, a l

Riiid, a South Korean artificial intelligence-based education tech startup, was added to a lits of the most innovative AI startups by a global market intelligence platform, the company said on Friday. Riiid, which develops AI technology that analyzes student data and content to help them learn, was included in the CB Insights’ AI 100 list, which is in its fifth year. CB Insights has chosen 100 out of 6,000 companies based on several factors including patent activity, investor quality,

Bitcoin prices remained unstable Thursday after falling more than 10 percent late Wednesday in a roller-coaster movement that coincided with the government’s warning and a widening price gap with overseas exchanges. The price for a bitcoin stood at about 71 million won ($63,600) as of 3 p.m. on Thursday, falling from 79 million won a day ago. The price of the largest cryptocurrency climbed sharply in recent days especially in domestic markets, showing a widening “Kimchi premium,&rd

Shares in local brokerages have risen over the past few days as their investments in rising fintech companies have gained attention from investors. 　 Shares in Hanwha Investment and Securities rose 61 percent from Wednesday, following local media reports that Dunamu, the operator of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, is mulling a New York Stock Exchange listing. The IPO rumor boosted the investment arm of Hanwha, which owns 6.15 percent or 2.07 million shares in Dunamu,

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, fell on Sunday after hitting a fresh record high over the weekend. The price difference between domestic and overseas exchanges, dubbed as the kimchi premium, widened as much as 10 percent, indicating a heated investors’ atmosphere. Bitcoin prices stood at around 73.50 million won ($65,056) in the early afternoon at local exchange Upbit and Bithumb, declining from the fresh record high of 75.30 million won on the previous day. This compares to other

On the heels of e-commerce platform Coupang’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange last month, which saw a valuation of over $100 billion, retail investors are seeking out similar opportunities with emerging companies on their way to market debuts. Booming interest in unlisted companies such as Viva Republica, Kurly and Krafton is stimulating support for platforms such as Stockplus Unlisted and Seoul Exchange, which link buyers and sellers of privately held companies’ stocks, ac

Ringle English Education Service, a South Korean education technology startup that provides 1:1 English tutoring services, said Tuesday that it had raised 10 billion won ($8.8 million) from investors as part of its Series A funding. The latest investment, which was led by returning investor Must Asset Management, puts Ringle at a valuation of 100 billion won. The edtech startup is running Series A funding until the end of April. Founded in 2015, the company has maintained a 300 percent grow