On April 11th, the price of bitcoin in the domestic cryptocurrency market surged 4%, nearly reaching 40 million won. At Bithumb’s customer center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, an electronic board displayed real-time trading prices for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 14 (Korea Bizwire) — The commission income earned by banks from virtual asset exchanges in Korea was halved last year due to the market downturn. The five major virtual asset exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb, paid a total of 20.4 billion won (US$15.5 million) to banks that signed contracts to issue real-name accounts in 2022, which is a 49.4% drop compared to 2021.
The drop is attributed to the decline in sales and operating profits of major cryptocurrency exchanges following the sharp decline in the price of Bitcoin in December 2021. However, prices of Bitcoin and other virtual assets have been on the rise again recently, leading to renewed attention in the market.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
