ChainCatcher news, a Reuters survey shows that 25 economists all indicated that the Bank of Korea will lower the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75% on February 25. (Jinshi)

ChainCatcher news, the Bank of Korea stated that political concerns have led to a slowdown in GDP growth. (Jin Ten)

ChainCatcher news, according to Insight Korea, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is changing its partner bank to KB Kookmin Bank. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the South Korean Financial Services Commission has recently accepted Bithumb's report regarding the change of the bank issuing real-name accounts. If approved, starting from March 24, customers trading cryptocurrencies on Bithumb will need to use a Kookmin Bank account.According to current laws, South Korean domestic cryptocurrency exchanges operate under the "one company, one bank" principle. Under the Specific Financial Information Act, exchanges must establish a real-name account partnership with a designated commercial bank to trade in Korean won.Bithumb has had a real-name account contract with Nonghyup Bank since 2018. However, Bithumb has been trying to change its partner bank since last year to secure market share before the contract with Nonghyup Bank expires. As a result, the two companies, which typically sign one-year contracts, only extended their contract for six months in March. A Bithumb representative stated, "We are requesting confirmation from the financial authorities and plan to announce relevant information as early as the 13th."

ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency, the Bank of Korea plans to further cut interest rates next year to address higher downside risks.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, the Bank of Korea vowed to stabilize the financial market in its first statement after the impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol, emphasizing the importance of "continuously implementing" key fiscal and economic measures.The Bank of Korea stated, "The Bank of Korea intends to work with the government to utilize all available policy tools to respond to and avoid escalation of volatility in the financial and foreign exchange markets." The Bank of Korea compared the current situation with the impeachment phases of previous presidents, believing that "external challenges such as increased uncertainty in the trade environment and intensified global competition are greater. If these external factors overlap with domestic factors, their impact may be amplified." The Bank of Korea called for intervention measures to improve the economy.

ChainCatcher news, the governor of the Bank of Korea stated that a transition period may occur in the coming months, making it difficult to assess the direction of the political situation. He does not believe that turmoil will force the central bank to cut interest rates further.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ledger Insights, the Bank of Korea has announced a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to jointly test the feasibility of digital currency (CBDC) and tokenized deposits.The central bank plans to pilot tokenized deposits among 100,000 people by the end of the year and achieve interbank settlement through wholesale CBDC. In this trial, seven domestic banks will participate, and tokenized deposits will be protected under the current deposit insurance system.In addition, the central bank has developed a digital voucher platform to reduce the complexity and fraud risk associated with paper voucher settlements.

ChainCatcher news, Citigroup economist Jin-Wook Kim stated in a report that the Bank of Korea may cut interest rates more quickly and more significantly to address weaker-than-expected economic growth. Kim indicated that the Bank of Korea is expected to lower rates by 25 basis points in January, April, and July of 2025.Previously, the Bank of Korea lowered the benchmark interest rate from 3.50% to 3.25% on October 11, initiating an easing monetary policy. This was one month earlier than Citigroup's previous forecast, Kim added. He pointed out that the central bank may also cut rates twice more in 2026—possibly in January and July—bringing the policy rate down to 2.00%, below Citigroup's earlier forecast of 2.50%.

ChainCatcher news, according to KBS, the Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee held its seventh monetary policy direction meeting of the year today (11th), lowering the benchmark interest rate from the current 3.50% to 3.25%, a decrease of 25 basis points.This rate cut marks a shift from the Bank of Korea's monetary tightening stance, which began in August 2021 with a 0.25% rate increase, to a loosening stance after 3 years and 2 months.

ChainCatcher news, among the 28 economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, 20 predict that the Bank of Korea will lower interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.25% at its meeting on Friday, while the remaining 8 expect the Bank of Korea to delay the rate cut until November. Economists at Capital Economics wrote in a report: "Given that inflation is below target and economic activity data shows further slowing, we expect the Bank of Korea to initiate an easing cycle at its scheduled monetary policy meeting (October 11)." South Korea's overall inflation rate slowed to 1.6%, a 43-month low, in September.

ChainCatcher news, as the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" came into effect in July, South Korean financial authorities announced a collaboration with virtual asset exchanges to develop "Continuous Abnormal Trading Monitoring Guidelines." The Financial Supervisory Service has established a unified trading data table standard that can detect abnormal trading, and each exchange has also set up computer systems. The main newly added trading information accumulation items include market information and trading order intermediary information.In addition, a reporting system has been established between the financial regulatory authority and the exchanges. The exchange plans to detect abnormal trading through a regular monitoring system and identify suspicious unfair trading by analyzing sales data, account opening information, order media information, and deposit and withdrawal information.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Bank of Italy has officially announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of Korea (Korea Central Bank) regarding information technology and payment systems. According to the Bank of Italy, the memorandum will require "mutual sharing of knowledge and information" on information and communication technology (ICT) issues, specifically mentioning ICT issues related to real-time settlement systems and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).The Bank of Italy is primarily focused on the interoperability of transaction solutions based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) settled through hash-linked contracts. South Korea began piloting CBDC infrastructure technology in October of this year. The pilot includes private banks and public institutions, supported by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

ChainCatcher news, according to ETNews, the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea has recently established a task force (TF) related to the listing of virtual assets and has begun discussions on "regulatory standards (guidelines) for listing, maintaining listing, and delisting."A relevant person from the Financial Supervisory Service stated that they plan to reach a conclusion and report to the National Assembly a few months before the implementation of the "Maximum Asset User Protection Act" in July next year, and will study how to take measures to enhance the effectiveness of the standards and ensure that the industry can protect itself through self-regulation.

ChainCatcher news, according to South Korean media hankyung, the Bank of Korea and the Korea Exchange have signed an agreement to develop a carbon emission trading simulation system based on distributed ledger technology and to test carbon emission trading based on CBDC. The specific details of the experiment are scheduled to be announced at the end of November, with plans to conduct it in the third and fourth quarters of next year.

ChainCatcher news, Ki Young Ju, co-founder and CEO of on-chain analytics company CryptoQuant, stated on social media that the CBDC system of the Bank of Korea will be built using a permissioned distributed ledger and will not connect to external open distributed ledger networks. Users participating in actual transaction testing will not be able to transfer the digital currency issued on the CBDC network to open distributed ledgers like Ethereum.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the Bank of Korea (BOK) plans to collaborate with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and other institutions to initiate a wholesale testing of central bank digital currency (CBDC).The Bank of Korea has released details of the experiment, which primarily focuses on the feasibility of a monetary system based on wholesale CBDC in the future. The pilot will test whether wholesale CBDC can be used as a settlement asset for tokenized deposits by commercial banks. The plan will also experiment with the programmability of tokenized deposits.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by News1, the Korea Banking Association is negotiating with Korean financial authorities and virtual asset exchanges to establish the "Guidelines for the Operation of Real-Name Accounts for Virtual Assets," aimed at enhancing the protection of virtual asset users and preventing activities such as money laundering. Among them, banks require virtual asset exchanges to fulfill their liability for user damages (issues such as hacking, computer failures, etc.) and to maintain a reserve of no less than 3 billion won; additionally, banks plan to implement enhanced customer verification procedures for real-name account users annually, including requiring additional authentication for reclaiming transfers and restricting reclaiming transfers for accounts that have not been used for a long time. Banks plan to categorize user accounts into limited accounts and normal accounts, restricting their deposit and withdrawal limits; they have also established anti-money laundering standards and procedures related to real-name authentication.

ChainCatcher news, the Bank of Korea will launch a public central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot experiment next year.According to informed sources, "The Bank of Korea will publicly conduct a small-scale settlement-type CBDC experiment in July this year for financial institutions that participated in last year's CBDC simulation experiment. Based on this, a CBDC pilot will be conducted for the public next year." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the Bank of Korea has released a report titled "Assessing the Deficiencies of the Cryptocurrency Market and Its Impact on Global Significant Events." The report states that as the scale of the cryptocurrency market expands, the possibility of impacting the real economy also increases. If activities such as deposits or loans are conducted in the cryptocurrency market similar to those in the traditional financial industry, and face the same risks, then the same regulations as those in the existing industry should be implemented for the crypto market.The National Assembly of Korea is currently promoting the enactment of regulations through the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act." The Bank of Korea's position is that legislation considering the impact on the financial system is necessary, especially for stablecoins that may be used as a means of payment. It believes that the role of central banks should be expanded by referencing legislative cases from major countries such as the European Union (EU).A responsible official from the Bank of Korea stated that if the cryptocurrency market has economic functions similar to traditional finance, regulatory rules similar to the "Banking Act" or the "Capital Markets and Financial Investment Services Act" should be formulated. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to the Seoul Economic Daily, the Bank of Korea stated in its "2022 Payment and Settlement Report" released today: "Regulatory authorities are responsible for the basic regulation of crypto assets, and the central bank needs to play an active role in the regulation of stablecoins, which are highly likely to be used as a means of payment." For stablecoins, the regulatory authority of the central bank should be clarified, while central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) should be explicitly defined as exceptions to crypto asset regulatory laws.The Bank of Korea believes that when introducing regulations related to crypto assets in South Korea, it is also necessary to consider separate regulatory measures for stablecoins, including regulations and restrictions on financial soundness, disclosure, risk management, and internal controls.In addition, the Bank of Korea emphasizes the need to establish detailed conditions for reserve assets or user protection schemes. For overseas stablecoins traded in South Korea, the Bank of Korea is considering applying laws such as the country's Foreign Exchange Transaction Act.Furthermore, regarding stablecoins deemed to have a significant impact on the financial system, the Bank of Korea proposed a regulatory scheme under the Bank of Korea Act for such stablecoins. The criteria for determining these stablecoins will comprehensively consider factors such as the number of holders, the value of reserve assets, the frequency and amount of remittances, and the scope of payments. (source link)