South Korea's financial sector is accelerating its pivot into the cryptocurrency market, with major securities firms exploring exchange acquisitions and global payments giant Visa highlighting the country's potential as a stablecoin testbed. Korea Investment & Securities (KIS), a securities heavyweight with a holding company valued at up to $8.5 billion, is reportedly in talks to acquire Coinone, the nation's third-largest crypto exchange.
Industry experts cited in reports indicate that domestic brokerages like KIS are growing tired of waiting for the government to finalize tokenization legislation and are instead "accelerating their efforts in crypto." An unnamed securities official told the Korea Herald that firms have put tokenization plans on hold awaiting legislative action from the National Assembly.
If the deal proceeds, KIS could find itself in direct competition with its rival, Mirae Asset Securities, South Korea's largest securities provider, which is reportedly close to finalizing a deal to acquire the Korbit exchange. Both Coinone and KIS have remained non-committal, with a Coinone spokesperson stating the firm is "receiving various collaboration proposals" but has not decided on any specific partnership models.
Simultaneously, Visa has identified South Korea as a prime market for stablecoin innovation. During a visit to top South Korean banks, Visa Group President Oliver Jenkins and Asia Pacific head Steven Carpin called the country an "optimal location" for stablecoin experiments outside the US, citing its 17 million crypto investors and high adoption rates for AI platforms like ChatGPT.
This endorsement comes as the South Korean government, under President Lee Jae-myung, pushes a long-delayed stablecoin regulation bill to allow won-pegged stablecoin issuance, facing opposition from major financial groups and the central bank. A senior financial sector official emphasized the urgency, stating, "The tokenisation of all assets and on-chain finance are inevitable trends. It is now urgent that the government puts the relevant regulations in place."
