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Korea’s Biggest Messaging App to Launch Exchange with 100+ Cryptocurrencies

Last Updated March 4, 2021 5:00 PM
Samburaj Das
Last Updated March 4, 2021 5:00 PM

An affiliate of Kakao, South Korea’s largest messaging platform, is set to launch a comprehensive new cryptocurrency exchange Upbit – with support for some 110 cryptocurrencies.

South Korean FinTech startup Dunamu, the operator of the country’s most popular stock trading app Kakao Stock, has revealed details of a new cryptocurrency exchange called ‘Upbit’. Dunamu, an affiliate of Kakao Corporation which sees its messaging app KakaoTalk used by 93% of South Korea’s population, reportedly  said on Monday that Upbit will be the largest virtual currency exchange in South Korea.

Upbit will be put to trial on a beta launch in October following a partnership with U.S-based digital currency exchange Bittrex. The partnership enables the soon-to-be-launched exchange to allow users to trade cryptocurrencies not found on existing Korean exchanges. Bithumb, Korea’s largest exchange by trading volume, currently offers support for seven cryptocurrencies according to data on its website.

An excerpt from a report from Korea Joongang Daily reads:

During the initial stage of the service, Upbit will mainly handle bitcoin and other major alternative coins such as ethereum, ripple and litecoin with trading volume exceeding a certain amount. The platform’s ultimate goal is to enable the trading of 111 different tokens from 167 different markets.

Upbit’s website adds that users will be provided with BitGo wallets alongside KakaoPay’s multi-factor authentication for account security.

Notably, Dunamu adds that Upbit traders will also be able to use Kakao apps including Kakao Talk and Kakao Pay, the mobile payment subsidiary of Kakao Corp with some 14 million users in Korea. In connecting cryptocurrency adopters and traders using the new exchange to Korea’s largest messaging and mobile payment platforms, Upbit is likely to garner plenty of awareness and interest among everyday Koreans looking to trade or merely own cryptocurrencies.

“By offering more platforms for transactions, Upbit says it aims to make cryptocurrency trading as easy as mobile trading of securities, which has become a popular medium of stock exchange in Korea recently,” the report added.

In related news, Kakao Corp’s mobile payments platform Kakao Pay gained a noteworthy $200 million investment from Ant Financial, the financial investment arm of China’s Alibaba – the world’s most valuable FinTech company. The partnership will also enable all 450 million global users of Alibaba’s Alipay to gain access to Kakao Pay’s services in Korea.

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