Home / Capital & Crypto / Korbit Announced as First Launch Partner of BitGo Instant in South Korea

Korbit Announced as First Launch Partner of BitGo Instant in South Korea

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:46 PM
James Moreau
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:46 PM

In an announcement via email newsletter today, Korbit , a South Korean Bitcoin exchange and wallet announced it is the first launching partner within South Korea to integrate BitGo Instant into their Bitcoin transfer and instant transfer protocol.

BitGo is a Bitcoin security company that offers a multi-sig wallet and now BitGo Instant. Korbit is one of the most popular and widely used Bitcoin wallets and exchanges in South Korea. They currently offer a way to buy Bitcoin through regular ATM transfer transactions from major banks in South Korea. Now partnered with BitGo Instant, Korbit will add a new facet of fast Bitcoin transactions that weren’t available in South Korea in the past.

For a 0.0002 BTC fee and additional 0.2% of the overall instant transfer, a sender of Bitcoin can use the service. It’s important to note that both senders and receivers of the Bitcoin must have BitGo Instant enabled on their Bitcoin wallet in order for the instant transfer to occur. Elsewhere besides South Korea, other services such as Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Kraken, Unocoin, FoldApp, ShapeShift, SFOX, Genisis/Tradeblock and Coinhako will be available to use with BitGo Instant.

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As previously covered on CCN.com, BitGo Instant offers zero delay, real-time Bitcoin transfers. Normally with regular Bitcoin transactions, there are several confirmations needed before the transaction is complete, which can take 20-30 minutes. While sending Bitcoin this way may be fine for non-time-sensitive situations, waiting 20-30 minutes can actually affect various types of individuals dramatically.

BitGo Instant guarantees transactions and if any transactions are not verified by the block chain properly and as expected, a company or person may file a claim for that amount with BitGo and will be compensated.

Sophie Kim, Marketing Manager for Korbit stated one specific case example:

“Using this Instant transfer service, users can avoid Bitcoin price volatility during the confirmation time because it is instant.”

Additionally, some fraudulent activities can be avoided using an instant service whereas a user cannot essentially double spend their Bitcoin by sending one transaction through a multiple verification process and then go spend it elsewhere within the 20-30 minute window.

In line with an ongoing block size debate among the Bitcoin industry, it’s clear to see that less bottlenecks and faster transaction times will only help spread the mass-adoption of Bitcoin faster. The more quickly Bitcoin can be exchanged between two parties, the more viable and stable business applications there are for it, which means more people will be exposed to using Bitcoin more easily.

In an already heavily digital country such as South Korea, Korbit is making buying and selling Bitcoin much easier for a widespread audience. South Korea has some other convenient options through a competitor called Coinplug which offers Bitcoin ATM’s and okBitcard, which is available at many 7-11 Convenience stores.

With volatility in global financial sectors and an overall weak South Korean Won, the opportunities for greater adoption of Bitcoin in the country are numerous. Bitcoin enthusiasts, startup incubators and coworking spaces such as the Bitcoin Center Korea  in conjunction with private businesses like Korbit continue to work to drive both awareness of Bitcoin in the public and private sector as well as in the everyday application of it in society.  

Featured image from Shutterstock.