SEOUL, Jul. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean banks’ investment in crypto-assets remained low despite a recent craze for the new type of digital currencies, a central bank report said Friday.
The outstanding balance of virtual accounts in local banks reached 2 trillion won (US$1.79 billion) as of December last year, according to the report by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The amount is equivalent to some 8 percent of the total deposits operated by South Korean brokerage houses, which are worth 26 trillion won.
Last year, prices of cryptocurrencies rose sharply and caused a flood of speculation that overheated the market.
The South Korean government has come up with a series of measures, including a real-name account system and a ban on investment by minors, to make the market more controllable and transparent. It is also considering taxing digital currency trading through a capital gains tax or sales tax.
Prices of Bitcoin hover around 8 million won in May in South Korea after peaking at 25.23 million won on Jan. 7. Its daily transactions dropped to an average 200 billion won in May from a record 4 trillion won in December 2017.