Articles by Park Ga-young
Park Ga-young
gypark@heraldcorp.com-
Fintech platforms become major banking tool for young Koreans: survey
More than 90 percent of young Koreans in their 20s and 30s use fintech platforms for money transfers instead of going to bank branches, a survey showed Monday. According to the survey conducted by the Korea Fintech Industry Association, about 96 percent of respondents said they use a financial technology platform developed by nonfinancial companies such as Kakao, Naver and Toss, while 60 percent said they use banking apps. The survey asked 2,000 people in their 20s and 30s who use payment ser
Market July 15, 2021
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Korea Herald's The Investor to co-host webinar on digital currencies in Asia
The Investor, the financial news platform run by The Korea Herald, is to jointly hold a webinar on government-backed digital currencies and the future of cryptocurrencies next week. As a co-host, The Investor joins with the Asia News Network, an alliance of 23 national media outlets in 20 Asian countries, to discuss the prospect of digital currencies and their role in decentralized finance in the post-COVID era. The Star of Malaysia, also an ANN member, participates as a co-host of the virtu
Economy July 14, 2021
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Cryptocurrencies in negative territory amid growing investor fear
Cryptocurrencies remained in negative territory for a second day on Wednesday, with investor sentiment indicators hinting fear amid toughened regulations by financial watchdogs across the globe. South Korea‘s digital asset exchange Upbit operator Dunamu’s Digital Asset Fear and Greed Index -- standing at 29.76 on Wednesday, the lowest in 18 days -- showed that investors were gripped by fear for the tenth consecutive day on Wednesday. An index figure between 20 and 40 means market
Market July 14, 2021
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Hashed invests in membership-based financial service provider Hi
Hashed, a South Korean venture capital company specialized in investing in blockchain technology, on Tuesday said it has invested an undisclosed amount in Hi, a membership-powered financial service for crypto and fiat currencies. Hi was co-founded by Sean Rach, the former chief marketing officer at Crypto.com and Stefan Rust, who served as CEO at Bitcoin.com. “Hi aims to provide a global wallet service that can provide various financial and payment services using cryptocurrency. We e
Market July 13, 2021
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KakaoBank’s success threatens traditional banks: Moody’s
KakaoBank’s rapid growth underscores the threat Big Tech poses to incumbent banks in Korea, Moody’s Investors Service on Monday said. The global credit rating agency said that local lenders face mounting competition and will have to strengthen their online platforms as KakaoBank expands its loan portfolio and capital base. Moody’s said KakaoBank, the banking arm of mobile giant Kakao, now has the largest number of users and attributed the internet-only bank’s rapid as
Market July 12, 2021
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Bithumb stops accepting new foreign users
Bithumb, one of South Korean major cryptocurrency exchanges, will stop accepting registrations of overseas users and block access from traders in four more countries that have been added to a money-laundering watch list. The cryptocurrency exchange will no longer receive applications for trading from overseas users starting 3 p.m. on Aug. 13. The same rule will be applied to foreign citizens in South Korea who do not have an alien registration card, it said. Both registrations and t
Market July 8, 2021
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Busan tests potential as blockchain industry hub
BUSAN -- Blockchain experts gathered in Busan -- a city designated as a blockchain special zone -- on Wednesday to assess the city’s potential to become the center of a global digital information ecosystem. Introducing the city’s blockchain projects that are taking place here, Shin Chang-ho, director of the Future Industry Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, said the blockchain technology has paved the way for the nation’s port city to transform into a financial hub and a glo
Market July 7, 2021
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Brazilian fintech used for KakaoBank, Kakao Pay's value evaluation
KakaoBank and Kakao Pay, which are set to go public only seven days apart, each compared themselves to a Brazilian financial technology firm for their valuations, their initial public offering applications showed Tuesday. The companies last week submitted their applications to Korea Exchange, the country’s stock market operator. KakaoBank said it plans to go public on Aug. 5 while Kakao Pay set its IPO date for Aug. 12. In their IPO applications, KakaoBank compared itself to four over
Market July 6, 2021
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Kakao Pay sets IPO schedule
Kakao Pay set the date for its initial public offering for the first week of August, immediately trailing the much anticipated listings of Krafton and KakaoBank. On Friday, Kakao Pay said it had submitted its IPO application to the country’s stock operator, Korea Exchange. The financial technology arm of mobile giant Kakao said it seeks to raise up to 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) when it goes public Aug. 4-5. Kakao Pay’s listing will immediately follow the mega IPO of game m
Market July 4, 2021
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Internet-only banks in war for talent ahead of IPO
South Korea’s internet-only banks are battling to secure top talents as they prepare to take on their next big challenges -- a public listing for KakaoBank and the official launch of Toss Bank. KakaoBank said Thursday that it had exceeded 1,000 employees as of the end of June, more than doubling the workforce of 390 it had in 2017 when it launched. The company is preparing for its initial public offering, which is expected to raise more than 2 trillion won ($1.77 billion). Toss Bank a
Market July 1, 2021
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Four crypto exchanges join hands to comply with global anti-money laundering regulations
South Korea’s four major cryptocurrency exchanges have decided to launch a joint venture ahead of the upcoming implementation of domestic and global anti-money laundering regulations, the companies announced Wednesday. The heads of the four exchanges -- Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit -- got together Tuesday and signed a memorandum to create the joint venture, which will develop a system that will help them comply with the “travel rule.” The travel rule is a global standa
Market June 30, 2021
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Hybe shares plunge almost 8% after a block deal
Shares of Hybe, the South Korean entertainment agency behind the hugely popular boy band BTS, plummeted more than 7 percent on Tuesday after a major investor, STIC Investment, unloaded its holdings via a block deal. Before closing down 7.37 percent to 289,000 won ($256), Hybe’s shares dropped by as much as 8.17 percent to 286,500 won on Tuesday. South Korea’s leading private equity fund STIC Investment sold 2.86 million shares, or 7.57 percent of the total shares in Hybe, a regu
Market June 29, 2021
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KakaoBank to raise up to W2.5tr in August IPO
KakaoBank, the country’s second internet-only lender, said on Monday that it would raise up to 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 million) in its initial public offering. The banking arm of mobile giant Kakao Corp. will offer a total of 65.45 million new shares at an indicative range between 33,000 won and 39,000 won per share through its upcoming debut on August 5, the IPO application filed with the Korea Exchange showed. The offering prices put the company’s market capitalization somewhere
Market June 28, 2021
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[Herald Interview] South Korean startup AweXomeRay develops next-generation X-ray technology for fresh, healthy air
For decades, X-rays have been mostly used for medical purposes such as checking for bone fractures, pneumonia and breast cancer. South Korean entrepreneur Gihm Se Hoon, however, uses the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) for air purification and sterilization, which has become an important technology amid worries over particulate pollution, and of course, floating bacteria and viruses, such as the coronavirus. The founder and CEO of aweXome Ray and his fellow scientists have commercialized
Industry June 28, 2021
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KakaoBank to join first-ever credit rating agency specialized for mom-and-pop stores
KaKakaoBank, South Korea’s leading mobile-only bank, said Sunday that it would join forces with industry partners to launch a credit scoring service specialized in mom-and-pop stores as a means to expand loans for low credit holders. The lender will be a major shareholder in a new credit-scoring company, with a 33 percent stake. Korea Credit Data -- provider of Cash Note, business management software for small and medium-sized businesses that has 800,000 users -- will own 43 percent.
Market June 27, 2021
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