Skip to main content

MLB Team Washington Nationals Partners With Terra Blockchain Community, Ballpark Plans to Accept UST

On February 9, the American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals, announced the team has partnered with Terra, the open-source blockchain platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Washington Nationals detail that the team is a “leading innovator” and is “consistently introducing new technologies to enhance the fan experience.” Washington Nationals Ink Long-Term Deal With Terra Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Washington Nationals has partnered with the blockchain platform and DAO Terra, according to an announcement published by the team on Wednesday. The deal with Terra follows a slew of sports-related deals with crypto firms, but the MLB team will be the first to partner with an open-source blockchain project. In addition to the partnership, the algorithmic stablecoin UST that’s issued on the Terra blockchain will be “accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park as early as next season.” “The Nationals continue t...

South Korean Bank Woori Financial to Offer Crypto Custody Services

Woori

Woori Financial Group, one of the biggest financial conglomerates in South Korea, will offer crypto custody services. The bank will develop a joint venture effort with Coinplug, a blockchain-based developing company. This conglomerate signals the third bank entering the market in the country, after KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank.

Woori Financial to Develop Joint Venture to Offer Custody Services

Woori Financial Group, one of the biggest banks in South Korea, will soon offer cryptocurrency custody services. According to reports from Korea Economic Daily, Woori will establish a joint venture with Coinplug, a blockchain solutions developing company with more than 300 blockchain patents.

While South Koreans have traditionally been attracted to cryptocurrency, their regulatory framework forbids them from relying on exchanges for custody. This has spurred interest from banks in stepping up and including cryptocurrency custody in their services. However, from a legal standpoint, banks cannot offer these services independently and need to enter the market via joint ventures.

Still, banks are well-positioned to be the main providers of crypto custody in the country. Banking institutions are generally well trusted in the country, and crypto is an incumbent industry. A Woori official stated:

In overseas markets, the digital asset custody has become a successful, established practice among the new services offered by the banks.

Banks Offer Crypto Custody as New Revenue Source

With Woori’s move, all three main banks in the country are now offering crypto custody services. The biggest bank conglomerate in the country, KB Kookmin Bank, was the first to enter the space. It established a joint venture in November 2020, Korea Digital Asset Co. (KODA), with other blockchain-related companies.

The second Korean bank to dip its feet into the new field was Shinhan Bank. Shinhan Bank inked a joint venture this year with Korbit to establish their own custody service, called Korea Digital Asset Custody Co. Custody is more akin to the traditional services banks offer for fiat currencies, and some think this is why banks are incorporating this activity as another relatively stable source of revenue.

South Korean regulators have taken a hard stance on crypto, proposing new regulations that could severely affect cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. They also banned police officers from buying cryptocurrency in May.

What do you think about Woori financial getting into the cryptocurrency custody business? Tell us in the comments section below.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Blockchain Software Firm Consensys Acquires Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet

On February 1, the blockchain infrastructure firm Consensys has revealed it has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto and plans to merge the wallet into Metamask. The price Consensys paid for Mycrypto was not disclosed but the announcement notes that the acquisition will “further improve the security of all the products.” Consensys Obtains Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet, Plans to Merge With Metamask in the Future Consensys has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto for an undisclosed sum according to an announcement released on Tuesday. The deal aims to strengthen the company’s Ethereum wallet Metamask and “enhance Web3 experiences.” The eventual merger between the two Ethereum interfaces will “provide users with a heightened experience that is even more extensive and secure,” according to Consensys. Consensys is an Ethereum software company led by one of the Ethereum co-founders Joseph Lubin. The Web3 wallet Metamask, with 21 million monthly active users (MAUs) is owned by C...

The Congolese Mountain of Gold: Surprise Discovery in Africa Shows Metal’s Scarcity Is Hard to Prove

A myriad of gold bugs like to compliment the yellow precious metal for its ostensible scarcity, as estimates say only 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold is produced annually. While new gold discoveries have seemingly slowed, investigative studies also show that in some areas, gold is being smuggled into the economy by the ton, and often never accounted for as far as per annum issuance estimates. Recently, reports show a whole mountain of gold was discovered in the Congo, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo is well known for being a region that sees tons of smuggled gold filtered into the global financial system unreported. Surprise Gold Deposits Continue to Crack the Precious Metal’s Scarcity Proposition It has always been said that the precious metal gold (Au) is scarce, and some reports even say that gold mining on earth will end by the year 2050 . Additionally, estimates also show that there’s roughly 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold that is accounted for and enters into the fin...

Bitcoin Legal Tender in 3 Days but Survey Shows 7 Out of 10 Salvadorans Want Bitcoin Law Repealed

Bitcoin is becoming legal tender in El Salvador in three days. However, a nationwide survey conducted by the University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) shows that seven out of 10 Salvadorans want the government to repeal the Bitcoin Law. El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law Goes Into Effect in 3 Days The University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) in El Salvador conducted a study between Aug. 13 and Aug. 20 of how the public views the country’s upcoming Bitcoin Law. The institute is a research center of the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA). El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law is set to go into effect on Sept. 7 , when BTC will be legal tender in the country alongside the U.S. dollar. A total of 1,281 respondents ages 18 and over participated in this national survey that “represents the entire adult population residing in the country,” according to the institute. Out of all the respondents, 62.4% said they were aware of the approval of the Bitcoin Law by the deputies of the ...