Kookmin Bank plans to launch first crypto investment fund in South Korea

Kookmin Bank (KB), which is the largest among banks in Korea and 60th largest in the world by 2017, is planning to become the first bank in South Korea to offer regular investors crypto investment products.

Kookmin Bank establishes a dedicated committee

On February 21, Kookmin Bank announced the establishment of a Digital Asset Management Preparatory Committee to explore product and strategy capabilities for digital assets and AI investment funds. Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures products are expected to be launched by the bank. The committee is also aiming to assess investment funds’ risk and compliance issues.

Honggun Kim, the bank’s Head of Index Quant Management, confirmed the plans in an official statement. “We will launch a virtual asset-themed equity fund, etc.,” he stated.

“We plan to publish periodicals as well.”

As per the research platform MacroTrends, Kookmin Bank Financial Group, the nation’s largest bank by net profit, had around $520 billion in total assets as of September 2021.

The company’s current plan is to develop a crypto investment index fund and a fund that employs an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO), also known as outsourced investment management, to provide principal investment guarantees. The OCIO fund can be used for retirement pensions as well.

Grayscale, which is seeing delays in Bitcoin ETF, and Fidelity Asset Management are two OCIOs to consider, both of which provide crypto investment funds. Last December, Fidelity Canada launched a spot Bitcoin ETF, even though such a product has yet to be approved in the United States.

KB follows Singaporean bank DBS

Kookmin Bank is responding to a market that has become increasingly receptive to crypto and nonfungible token (NFT) investments by introducing a new investment fund for its customers. Shinhan Bank, a close competitor, has dedicated an entire section of its banking app to helping clients with NFT collections on Klaytn, the country’s top blockchain.

Following in the footsteps of Singaporean megabank DBS, Kookmin Bank has announced new retail cryptocurrency investing products. On February 14, DBS Bank CEO Piyush Gupta said the bank would work to expand its crypto activities this year.