By
Benjamin Njiri
April 23rd, 2024
Jiho Kang, CEO of Binance Korea, was behind several companies in South Korea, including ventures like Soomgo, BXB, and other ones. Now, under his supervision, Binance adds support for Korean Won (KRW), via a first in history KRW-backed stablecoin.
Per the blog post published on 31 March, Seychelles based crypto exchange Binance will launch Binance Korea on April 2. The exchange will work as a part of the existing infrastructure of Binance Cloud. The exchange will be accepting deposits from 2 April, 1 AM UTC. The trading starts on April 4, 1 AM UTC. Since April 9, the exchange will open withdrawals.
Over time, the exchange will open more trading pairs to introduce South Korean traders to more options and possibilities. Previously, Binance’s main office inked acquisition agreement with BXB startup. Per Jiho Kang:
“Binance Ltd.’s trading platform will provide cross-border liquidity and robust technology of Binance.com as well as the new BKRW stablecoin, which is backed by the South Korean Won. We are committed to bringing a fully compliant world-class digital asset exchange to the Korean market via Binance Cloud and BKRW. We are honored to partner with Binance to work towards our mutual mission of increasing the freedom of money together.”
BXB is a fintech startup standing behind the creation of KRWb, the stablecoin tech which is now in use by Binance. Initially, the exchange will support for BTC, ETH, BNB, later they will add USDT, BUSD and other stablecoins. Binance Korea users will have the possibility to instantly convert their fiat Won papers into the stablecoins, and vice versa.
The exchange is heavily expanding, with the crypto community having a shock amid rumors of Binance buying CoinMarketCap popular crypto tracking website for insane $400 million.
Binance Cloud Offers New Horizons to Fight Coronavirus
Binance Cloud is the big update from Binance, launched a month ago. It will allow Binance to open exchange branches with ties to specific jurisdiction. Binance.kr, just like Binance.us, will become the hot spot for everything crypto-related, first of all – for trading. Binance will offer high liquidity, the safety of funds and numerous bonus programs in their usual style. Koreans will possess all the benefits of usual Binance trading, gaining the possibility to legally exchange and operate crypto.
The exchange can give the deepest spot trading liquidity on the market, the security of accounts and features advanced custody risk control. Considering that South Korea is suffering from the coronavirus attack, the replacement of paper cash with the stablecoin alternative is one of the bold methods of reducing the COVID-19 spreading. Many people still didn’t realize that the virus is not a joke, that God actually can issue ‘sanctions’ too, and that it’s time to avoid physical contacts when buying stuff.
Bank plastic is good at that too, but if the card does not contain NFC chip, things are bad. In many stores, the person at the point of sale is still touching your bank card while using the terminal. With the stablecoin-based system of value exchange, Koreans should be able to convert their bank holdings to KRW-backed stablecoin. Then, it is very easy to go shopping with a smartphone. When you pay, just scan a QR-code and that’s it! The only trouble is that not every vendor on the street is accepting BTC, ETH, and stablecoins. Let us hope that the Binance’s aggressive marketing machine will do the job to make stablecoins more popular among locals.