Neobank K-Bank May Have to Postpone IPO Plan as Crypto Winter Bites
An up-and-coming South Korean bank appears to be suffering from the crypto market’s volatility – and may have to shelve its initial public offering (IPO) plans if crypto winter continues.
Per ENews Today, K-Bank, the banking partner of the market-leading crypto exchange Upbit, is “experiencing difficulties.”
The report explained that the bank – which had hoped to follow its biggest rival Kakao Bank onto the stock market – has been hit with a double whammy of bad news.
The Upbit alliance brought a huge number of customers to the bank, buoying its market value and leading K-Bank to formulate ambitious IPO plans. Under South Korean law, all crypto exchange customers must hold a real name-verified bank account with the exchange’s partner bank, and conduct all their fiat-related transactions through this account.
With crypto investment skyrocketing across South Korea during the most recent bull market, thousands of new customers came to K-Bank – drawn mainly by the fact that K-Bank, as a neobank, allowed crypto investors to open their accounts online. They were also drawn to the fact that Upbit has become the nation’s biggest and busiest crypto trading platform.
But as the market continues to slump, trading volumes have plummeted in South Korea. Late last year, Upbit daily trading volumes peaked at the USD 20.3bn level, per CoinGecko data. But at the time of writing, that figure has shrunk to USD 3.3bn.
As of late March this year, almost half of all the money ever deposited on K-Bank’s platforms originated from Upbit customers.
Banking experts warned that a mass sell-off of tokens could hit K-Bank’s liquidity. The bank has already experienced difficulties as a result of its Upbit partnership. Despite the fact that K-Bank pocketed
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