Kookmin Bank is preparing to become the first bank in South Korea to offer crypto investment products to retail investors.
KB publicized that it had formed a Digital Asset Management Preparatory Committee to determine product and strategy capabilities regarding digital assets and artificial intelligence investment funds. The bank expects to launch crypto exchange-traded funds and futures products. The committee will also assess risk and compliance issues for the investment funds.
The plans were confirmed by KB’s Head of Index Quant Management Honggun Kim in the official release from the bank. KB Financial Group, the country’s largest by net profit, had about $520 billion in total assets as of September 2021 according to the research platform MacroTrends.
The current plans are to launch a crypto investment index fund and a fund that utilizes an OCIO, also referred to as outsourced investment management, in order to provide guarantees on principal investments. The OCIO fund may also be used in retirement pensions.
Such OCIO that may be considered includes Grayscale and Fidelity Asset Management, each of which offers crypto investment funds. Fidelity Canada launched a spot Bitcoin ETF last December though such a product has yet to be approved in the U.S.
