Article
【Bank of Korea investigates financial institutions’ entry into the virtual asset market】
The Bank of Korea (central bank) has begun monitoring the market and has asked banks and securities firms to provide updates on virtual asset-related business activities and risk assessments. Last month, the Bank of Korea 23 sent requests on 18 to banks (including KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori,NH NongHyup, the major banks) and 13 securities firms, requesting their participation in the “Survey on the Current Status of Financial Institutions’ Entry into the Virtual Asset Market.” The survey covers each institution’s virtual asset-related organizational structure and budget, market-entry status, business-related risk assessments, and risk-management measures. It also addresses the potential impact on financial institutions should a major incident occur at South Korea’s largest virtual asset exchange by market share, such as a temporary operational disruption caused by a large-scale hacking attack. In addition, the survey examines other risk scenarios, including sharp declines in the prices of virtual assets such as Bitcoin, sustained contraction in trading volume, or substantial losses incurred by other financial institutions as a result of virtual asset-related incidents.