BitGo Korea, Backed by Hana Financial and SK Telecom, Secures VASP Registration

BitGo Korea, the South Korean unit of global digital-asset infrastructure company BitGo, said on August 20 that the Financial Intelligence Unit under the Financial Services Commission had accepted its registration as a virtual asset service provider, or VASP.

The company said this is the first case since South Korea introduced the VASP registration system under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information in which a global digital-asset firm set up a new local entity to enter the market and secured VASP registration.

BitGo Korea is a joint venture backed by Hana Financial Group and SK Telecom as major shareholders. Hana Financial Group holds about 25%, while SK Telecom owns about 10%. Rather than acquiring an existing domestic virtual-asset business, the company established a new entity and underwent a formal review process that met local regulatory standards, including Information Security Management System, or ISMS, certification and anti-money laundering requirements.

With the registration, BitGo Korea will be able to provide custody and management, transfer, and brokerage, intermediation and agency services for the sale, purchase and exchange of virtual assets to domestic and overseas corporate clients. Based on that approval, the company plans to expand in earnest into digital-asset infrastructure and custody services for institutional clients in South Korea.

Chen Fang, chief executive officer of BitGo Korea, said the company set up a new local entity to enter the South Korean market and had its technology and systems formally vetted within the country's regulatory framework. He added that the approval would help expand digital-asset infrastructure offerings for regulated financial institutions and corporations in South Korea.