Oh Jong-wook, CEO of Wavebridge: "Participation of institutions is essential in the virtual asset market…A game-changer with the 'Prime Platform'"

Interview with Oh Jong-wook, CEO of Wavebridge

Participation of institutions is inevitable in the virtual asset market

Lack of domestic regulations and infrastructure as obstacles

Launch of 'Wavebridge Prime'

Accelerating institution-exclusive brokerage business

"Institutional participation is essential for the domestic virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market to grow. Wavebridge is building infrastructure exclusively for institutions to achieve this."

Oh Jong-wook, CEO of Wavebridge (photo), stated this during an interview with Bloomingbit on the 4th, saying that "eventually, institutions will participate in the domestic virtual asset market."

CEO Oh diagnosed that there is currently a lack of essential technology and operating infrastructure for institutional participation in Korea. He said, "In the US, Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, has succeeded in entering the regulatory system by listing on Nasdaq, and institutions have started building their foundation in the virtual asset market from early on. However, in Korea, individual trading at exchanges still dominates in the absence of an institutional framework," adding that "legal uncertainty and lack of regulation are blocking institutional entry."

He explained that for institutions to participate in the virtual asset market, a system with a certain level of quality, such as API (application programming interface), price feeds, order management, and accounting processes, must be in place. He also emphasized that beyond simple technical issues, urgent preparation is needed for overall institutional connectivity and a trust-based infrastructure.

He noted that for genuine market participation by institutional investors such as corporations and pension funds, securing liquidity is a realistic challenge that must be addressed. CEO Oh said, "The total quantity of Bitcoin held by domestic exchanges is less than 5,000, which is far too insufficient to meet spot ETF demand," and added, "It is essential to build a stable Bitcoin procurement system by connecting with overseas broker-dealers."

He further commented, "In the future, if funds from pension funds or financial holding company affiliates flow into ETF products, the need to acquire physical Bitcoin will also increase. It would be difficult to accommodate this demand with liquidity limited to domestic exchanges, and ultimately, a procurement network connecting to global liquidity must be established for the market to function normally." He continued, "It is not simply a supply shortage, but because the infrastructure for regulated participants to trade with security has not been sufficiently prepared yet."

In response to this situation, Wavebridge is speeding up the process of building a brokerage platform exclusively for institutions. CEO Oh said, "The core of Wavebridge is to provide an integrated service that covers the entire process from receiving and executing institutional investors’ orders to custody and delivery," adding, "Ultimately, in the financial industry, a sophisticated market structure such as indexes and derivatives forms only when institutions with capital and systems participate. Wavebridge aims to lead that trend."

The platform to realize this was launched on the 28th of last month as 'Wavebridge Prime.' This platform embeds accounting and settlement systems and global institutional connectivity, and is designed to provide an 'optimal execution' environment where trades are automatically executed at the best price available.

CEO Oh said, "Wavebridge's strategy is to become the only virtual asset platform in Korea capable of providing true prime brokerage functions," adding, "Our first goal is to onboard over 100 corporations by the end of this year. We are already receiving concrete inquiries from a variety of institutions."

He is also looking forward to the regulatory improvements regarding digital assets that will become full-fledged in the second half of the year. CEO Oh highlighted, "Until now, virtual assets have been viewed as speculative assets centered on individuals, but now stand at a turning point toward becoming part of the institutional system. Stable and reliable platforms that meet institutional demand have become more important than ever."

He added, "While some worry that institutional entry could pressure the market, in reality, increased trading volume and improved order books could lead to a better environment for individual investors as well," noting, "This will bring about positive change, raising the level of maturity and transparency in the market."

Hwang Doo-hyun, Bloomingbit journalist cow5361@bloomingbit.io