Crypto prices are plummeting but there are still positive narratives to be told. Here’s one… KB, also known as Kookmin Bank, is preparing to become the first bank in South Korea to offer crypto-investment products to retail investors.
That’s also significant because KB Financial Group is South Korea’s largest firm by net profit, holding about US$520 billion in total assets as of September 2021, according to research from Macrotrends.
The bank made the announcement on Monday in a press release you’ll probably need to Google translate, revealing it’s formed a special “Digital Asset Management Preparatory Committee”.
This committee is the first step towards the launch of the bank’s crypto-related investment products that will reportedly be informed and guided by AI-based domestic and foreign market research.
The banking group is expected to offer a crypto index product and crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Hong-Gon Kim, KB Asset Management’s lead for its index quant management division said, “We will launch virtual asset-themed equity funds as soon as possible. We plan to hold a virtual asset conference for customers and publish periodicals.”
Amber Group becomes a triple crypto unicorn
In more Asian-centric crypto news, Singapore-based crypto-finance startup Amber Group has just raised US$200 million in a Series B funding round, giving it a US$3 billion valuation.
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek led a US$200 million investment into the fledgling trading platform, which provides liquidity and electronic market-making services to institutional and individual clients throughout Asia. That client base is reportedly more than 1,000.
Participation in the funding also came from recognisable big VC players including Sequoia China, Pantera Capital, Tiger Global Management, Tru Arrow Partners, and Coinbase Ventures among others. These are all existing shareholders in the company from previous funding rounds. The total capital raised for Amber Group now stands at US$328 million.
According to a press release, the young firm says it will use the latest funding to hire in Europe and the Americas, where it has identified institutional demand.
And, according to a CoinDesk article, it will also reportedly use part of the funds to expand WhaleFin, a retail-targeted app that enables crypto yield earnings.