Korbit Research Center Publishes Custody Company Exploration Report

Korbit Research Center, a subsidiary of domestic virtual asset exchange Korbit, announced on the 16th that it has published a report detailing its visits to three American virtual asset custody companies: Coinbase Custody, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Fireblocks.

Jung Seok-moon, head of Korbit Research Center, visited New York last August to understand the status of virtual asset institutionalization in the United States, meeting key industry figures and related companies. The report introduces the concept and history of custody and compares the custody industry environments of the U.S. and South Korea based on insights gained from visits to the three major U.S. custody companies. It also analyzes the main contents of ‘SAB 121,’ a representative regulatory framework related to U.S. custody established by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Korbit Research Center explained that since the origin of modern banks also started with custody services and most of the world’s wealth is currently managed based on traditional financial system custody, the development of the virtual asset custody industry could not only accelerate the institutional acceptance of virtual assets but also contribute to the growth of the virtual asset ecosystem itself.

Furthermore, Korbit Research Center analyzed that there are differences between the U.S. and South Korea’s custody industries in terms of regulatory frameworks and business environments through this corporate visit. From a regulatory perspective, the U.S. designs regulations based on the type of service provided by the business operator rather than the asset itself. Therefore, virtual asset custody businesses are considered a branch of traditional custody businesses and are included within the regulatory framework of traditional financial custody.

Regarding the business environment, unlike in South Korea, corporations in the U.S. have no restrictions on virtual asset investments. As corporations freely own virtual assets, demand for custody services naturally arose, and custody companies have grown through fierce internal competition.

Jung Seok-moon, head of Korbit Research Center, stated, "Considering that custody is a B2B-based business, restrictions on virtual asset investments by domestic corporations have slowed the development of South Korea’s virtual asset industry. We must quickly establish an environment where domestic corporations can freely invest in virtual assets so that South Korean virtual asset companies with global competitiveness can emerge."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.