BitGo adds South Korean giants SK and Hana as partners for local arm

Global digital asset custody firm BitGo has added South Korea’s telecom heavyweight SK Telecom and the country’s leading financial institution, Hana Financial, as major shareholders and strategic partners of the company’s regional arm.

Hana Financial has acquired a 25% stake in BitGo Korea, while SKT acquired 10%, BitGo CEO Mike Belsh said at Tuesday’s Korea Blockchain Week 2024 event in Seoul, South Korea. BitGo Korea is the company’s joint venture with Hana Bank established earlier this year. BitGo initially partnered with Hana Bank in September last year.

The two South Korean industry leaders plan to support BitGo Korea to expand its presence in the local market, and ultimately establish the ground for institutionalization of crypto in South Korea.

While Hana pledged to vitalize the local crypto sector by providing reliable crypto custody services with BitGo, SKT said it will provide its know-how in user authentication, security and identity verification to make BitGo’s services more easily accessible to clients. 

BitGo Korea is currently preparing to get licensed as a virtual asset service provider in South Korea. BitGo, established in 2013, said it currently has around $70 billion in assets under custody, and added that about 20% of bitcoin traded on-chain is transacted via BitGo’s infrastructure.

Hana Financial Group was the third largest financial services group in South Korea as of the end of 2023, with total assets of around 592 trillion won ($441.4 billion), according to local news agency Newsis . SK Telecom is the leading provider of telecommunications in the country, reportedly owning around 40% of the market.