On the 21st of February, KB Bank said that it has formed a Digital Asset Management Preparatory Committee to assess product and strategy capabilities for digital assets and artificial intelligence investment funds. Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures products are expected to be launched by the bank. The investment funds’ risk and compliance issues will also be assessed by the committee.
KB Bank’s announcement
Kookmin Bank is poised to become the first bank in South Korea to offer regular clients crypto investment products. Honggun Kim, the bank’s Head of Index Quant Management, confirmed the plans in an official statement. He said,
“We will launch a virtual asset-themed equity fund, etc. We plan to publish periodicals as well.”
Developing a crypto investment index fund and a fund that employs an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO), also known as outsourced investment management, to give primary investment guarantees, are part of its current plan. The OCIO fund can be used for retirement pensions as well.
Greyscale and Fidelity Asset Management are some other firms with a similar OCIO.
KB Bank is responding to a market that has become increasingly receptive to crypto and nonfungible token (NFT) investments by introducing a new investment fund for its customers.
World Wide Crypto Adoption?
Following in the footsteps of Singaporean megabank DBS, KB Bank has announced new retail cryptocurrency investing products. On February 14, DBS Bank CEO Piyush Gupta said the bank would work to scale its crypto activities in 2022.
According to the research platform MacroTrends, KB Financial Group, the country’s largest net profit, had around $520 billion in total assets as of September 2021.
As crypto is garnering more and more worldwide adoption, it sure is a sight for sore eyes. President Joe Biden of the United States is also expected to issue an executive order on cryptocurrency this week.