Korean Crypto Exchange Upbit Plans for International Expansion

Upbit, one of South Korea’s top cryptocurrency exchanges, is planning to expand its operations in the international markets, especially in Southeast Asian countries.

While speaking at CoinDesk's Consensus, CEO of Upbit operator Dunamu, Sirgoo Lee revealed the digital currency’s future expansion plans.

“We’re looking to expand overseas,” Lee said. “We did open shop in Southeast Asia, and we are expanding our exchanges in that location.”

Indeed, Upbit launched services in Thailand earlier this year after obtaining four cryptocurrency-related operational licenses from the country's regulators. It perfectly timed the market as the leading Thai crypto Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term with around 97 percent of the local market was facing regulatory backlash amid technical troubles.

Upbit first entered the region in 2018 with offerings in Singapore and later expanded to Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, in early 2019. Though the CEO revealed the expansion plans, the specifics are clear.

Alternative Services

The exchange might have plans to enter the non-Fungible Fungible Fungibility is a term that describes how interchangeable a certain asset is with other assets of the same kind.If an asset is fungible, one unit of that asset is interchangeable with another unit of that asset. Of note, fungibility differs from liquidity. A good is said to be liquid if it can be easily exchanged for money or another good. However, a good is fungible if one unit of the good is substantially equivalent to another unit of the same good of the same quality at the same time and place Fungibility is a term that describes how interchangeable a certain asset is with other assets of the same kind.If an asset is fungible, one unit of that asset is interchangeable with another unit of that asset. Of note, fungibility differs from liquidity. A good is said to be liquid if it can be easily exchanged for money or another good. However, a good is fungible if one unit of the good is substantially equivalent to another unit of the same good of the same quality at the same time and place Read this Term tokens and decentralized finance space as Lee said the company is exploring ‘various possibilities’ without going into the details.

Upbit is one of the big four South Korean crypto exchanges, but it has its fair share of controversies. The exchange was hacked in November 2019, resulting in the theft of Ether, which was worth around $50 million at the time. However, Upbit revamped its security features after the breach.

Furthermore, the exchange was raided by Korean authorities over allegations of selling digital currencies that it does not even hold. However, those charges did not stand against the exchange.

Earlier this year, Hanwha Group’s brokerage arm, Hanwha Investment and Securities purchased a minority stake in Upbit for an investment of around $52.24 million.