According to the Korean media, Samsung’s latest push into the crypto market is driven by President Yoon Suk-yeol’s pro-crypto stance. The newly-elected President of South Korea is encouraging domestic companies and investors to invest more in cryptocurrencies and virtual assets. He has even increased the minimum taxable income from digital trading, giving more room for growth to small investors. President Yoon’s push into this sector may also have something to do with dozens of domestic digital trading platforms shutting their operations last year. Under the leadership of former President Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) enforced new cryptocurrency regulations in September 2021. More than 60 firms failed to meet the updated requirements and had to shut their shops. The FIU also took action against several foreign crypto exchange platforms operating illegally in the country. This created a huge void in the crypto industry in South Korea. And Samsung isn’t the only local company looking to take advantage of this opportunity. As many as seven securities firms have reportedly applied for preliminary approval to launch crypto exchange platforms. These include Mirae Asset Securities, the largest investment banking and stock brokerage company by market capitalization in South Korea. All of these firms are aiming to come up with their respective platforms in the first half of next year. These companies plan to support exchanges for all major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Many of them are also interested in non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Samsung has been showing great interest in the crypto industry
Samsung’s interest in the crypto industry is not new. As said earlier, it already offers a Blockchain Wallet built-in on its flagship phones. The company launched the wallet with the Galaxy S10 series in early 2019. The firm is also said to be developing its own crypto coin. Samsung Securities, which is one of the leading investment firms in South Korea, reportedly looked to build a team for its crypto efforts last year but failed to find the desired talent. But it now seems to have resources in hand and is gearing up to have another go at it. It remains to be seen whether the company achieves its goal of launching a crypto exchange platform early next year.
