South Korean Woori Bank to develop own digital coins
Woori Bank has teamed up with fintech units Dayli Intelligence and The Loop under Seoul-based Dayli Financial Group to develop its own digital coin “WeBee”.
South Korean businesses have been increasingly supportive of digital currencies. Another piece of proof comes from Woori Bank Co.
The bank is working to develop its own digital coin, set to be issued by the end of this year, South Korea’s Pulse reports.
The new digital coin, tentatively named ‘WeBee’, will be a result of the partnership sealed by Woori Bank and fintech units Dayli Intelligence and The Loop under Seoul-based Dayli Financial Group. Under the terms of agreement, the companies will cooperate on developing and testing platforms for using digital coins specifically designed for Woori Bank.
The WeBee digital coin will operate via blockchain, offering more secured and simpler transactions.
Woori Bank has been working on new business models and services by implementing new technologies such as blockchain and internet of things (IoT) since April this year.
South Korean authorities are actively working on ways to regulate digital currencies. In July this year, Park Yong-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea unveiled plans to revise certain laws that will affect the cryptocurrency industry. Soon after that, a public hearing on the proposed legislative changes was held. Kim Yeon-june, representing the Financial Services Commission, said the government had yet to decide whether cryptocurrencies should be included in the scope of financial regulations. The public hearing also indicated the Electronic Financial Transactions Act is the only law to be revised, while revisions on income tax and corporate tax laws are not envisaged.
South Korea is one of the hotspots for Bitcoin trading. The growing interest in cryptocurrencies, however, is accompanied by a increase in fraud and cyber problems.
In April, for instance, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Yapizon announced that it was the victim of a hacker attack and claimed the loss of BTC 3,831 in customer funds as a result – back then, that equalled about $5 million. The customers of the Exchange had to pay for the loss from their own account balances.
