BTCC, cryptocurrency exchange formerly known as BTC China, is reportedly set to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea. It’ll launch beta services this month, and the debut is set for November.
According to Finance Magnates, the cryptocurrency exchange’s operations in the country will be headed by Lee Jae-beom, and will also see the exchange “expand its footprint,” through strategic partnerships with local and global firms.
Commenting on the BTCC Korea’s launch, Lee was quoted as saying:
Cryptocurrency exchanges are facing a turning point due to a downturn in local exchanges while global exchanges are making a leap here. BTCC Korea will be able to present a new strategy and vision of crypto exchanges
Notably, BTCC won’t just launch a cryptocurrency exchange in the country, as its website reveals it’ll also offer wallet services, a mining pool, and a consumer payments service. While it isn’t yet clear which cryptos will be offered on the platform, BTCC’s other platform may offer clues.
Founded in 2011, BTCC was in the past one the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by trading volume, but was forced to shut down after China started cracking down on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) in September of last year.
Since then, the exchange moved to Hong Kong, where it currently offers its users trading pairs between five cryptocurrencies – bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin, and dash. These are all paired against the USD, and against BTC.
Crypto Exchanges in South Korea
Moving into South Korea will see BTCC compete with dominant exchanges in the country, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit. Bithumb, the largest in the region by trading volume, raked in $35.3 million in H1 of this year, despite being hacked for $31.5 million in June.
As CryptoGlobe covered, the exchange is set to sell 38% of its stake to a Singapore-based Blockchain Consortium group, in a deal that’s expected to be finalized by December 12. It has also recently launched a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX), which is registered via one of the company’s subsidiaries operating out of Hong Kong.
The DEX’s goal is to reportedly help Bithumb’s crypto trading services become more accessible to investors across the globe, while making transactions safer. Other leading cryptocurrency exchanges are also working on their own DEX’s.
Binance, as reported, aims to launch a public beta version of its DEX by Q1 of next year. In it, its Binance Coin (BNB) token will be used as native gas. Currently, according to DAppRadar, the top decentralized exchanges on the Ethereum blockchain are IDEX and ForkDelta, with 1,640 and 980 users in the last 24 hours, respectively.
