Kakao Group and Korea Investment & Securities have joined forces to develop services for issuing and distributing digital assets.
Kakao, KakaoBank and Kakao Pay said on the 1st that they signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea Investment & Securities covering the plan.
The two sides agreed to flesh out ways to use digital assets and to review new businesses in investment, money transfers and settlement. They will also pursue the build-out of related infrastructure, including crypto wallets, as well as asset custody and the linking of services for customers.
Korea Investment & Securities had previously been reviewing business models with KakaoBank in areas such as wallet development, stablecoins and the distribution of tokenized securities. With the agreement, the brokerage plans to widen the discussions to include Kakao and Kakao Pay and push the business forward in earnest.
KakaoBank and Korea Investment & Securities are also connected through Coinone, a cryptocurrency exchange. KakaoBank provides real-name verified deposit and withdrawal accounts for Coinone, while Korea Investment & Securities holds a stake in the exchange. Given that business link through Coinone, attention is turning to what specific digital asset businesses the agreement will lead to.
"We will combine the capabilities of both companies to explore and build various possible uses for digital assets," said Yun Ho-young, chief executive of KakaoBank and co-head of Kakao Group's stablecoin task force.
