Major South Korean Exchange Bithumb Partners With BitPay To Corner ‘$200 Bln’ Market

South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has partnered with BitPay to compete in the international remittance market, an executive announced March 13.

Speaking to CNBC about the deal, BitPay chief commercial officer Sonny Singh said businesses would now be able to convert invoices to Bitcoin and use BitPay to settle them faster and more cheaply than via conventional bank-based remittance channels.

“Cross-border payments between Korea and the West will be a $200 bln industry this year,” he told the network.

“Right now, people are doing cross-border payments […] and paying bank wires, FX fees around 4% and it takes about four days. Using Bithumb and BitPay, we’re able to make this a 1% fee in one business day,” Singh continued.

- Bitpay on its latest partnership with Bithumb from CNBC.

Despite huge trading volumes, South Korea remains an uncertain market for cryptocurrency businesses and users alike. Since December 2017, South Korea has introduced a series of regulations on crypto markets, banning anonymous trading, domestic ICOs, foreign use of domestic exchanges, in addition to banning all government officials from crypto holding and trading.

BitPay, which Singh confirmed is on course to process $4 bln worth of payments in 2018, is unfazed by the potential for regulatory upheaval.

“We welcome regulation,” he continued, “so I think all the Korean exchanges like Bithumb — they welcome regulations too. We make sure they do proper AML/KYC checks.”

Earlier this month, South Korean Woori Bank announced its intention to begin commercialized cross-border remittances using Ripple this year.

Bithumb continues to increase consumer awareness of cryptocurrency inside the country, introducing payment terminals to restaurants this month, Cointelegraph reported.