10-4-2025 – South Korea’s banking titans have issued a clarion call to the nation’s ruling lawmakers, pressing for a loosening of the regulatory shackles that bind their alliances with cryptocurrency exchanges. Gathered on a brisk Wednesday, the heads of the country’s five banking heavyweights—KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup—joined forces with chiefs from regional Jeonbuk Bank and digital upstart Toss Bank. Their target? The lawmakers of the People Power Party, whom they urged to rethink rules stifling the crypto sector’s growth, as reported by local outlet Money Today.
At the heart of their plea lies a push to unshackle exchanges from their current straitjacket: a one-to-one banking tie-up mandated by South Korean law. This rule, designed to thwart money laundering, demands that local crypto platforms secure a banking partner to enable fiat-to-crypto transactions. It also requires users to link real-name bank accounts to trading platforms for cash withdrawals and deposits—a system that’s delivered a golden ticket to some banks while leaving others on the sidelines. Take K-Bank, the neobank darling, which saw its user base rocket from 2.19 million to 6.6 million in a single year after clinching a deal with Upbit in 2020. By late 2024, that figure had swelled to 12.7 million, according to Maeil Business News.
Woori Bank’s president, Jung Jin-wan, didn’t mince words. He warned that the exclusive partnership model—tying each exchange to a single bank—poses risks to the financial system’s stability while boxing in consumer options. “Let’s broaden it to one exchange, multiple banks,” he urged lawmakers, a sentiment echoed in local coverage. His argument? The current setup hands disproportionate power to a select few institutions, leaving others—and their clients—stranded.
Meanwhile, the winds of change are stirring. South Korea’s regulators are cautiously rolling back the ban on institutional crypto investments, opening the door to a new breed of client. Upbit, a leading exchange, is already fielding queries from corporations eager to dip their toes into the market, while rival Korbit has rolled out a bespoke service to steward institutional crypto assets, per Newsis.
