South Korea’s Bithumb and Upbit Achieve Unicorn Status

South Korea has had plenty of crypto airtime in recent weeks, with increased crypto activity drawing the attention of regulators. Crypto exchanges, NFTs, and the Metaverse have all drawn increased interest.

As a result of an increase in Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoin trading activity, illicit activity has also been on the rise, forcing regulators into action.

Crypto-Assets Face Increased Regulatory Scrutiny

Earlier this week, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced that it will tighten the monitoring of new traded assets.

New traded assets would include cryptos and NFTs. The announcement followed the guilty verdicts of 7 V Global executives who received as many as 22-year jail sentences. Earlier in the year, prosecutors in South Korea had called for ring leaders of scams to receive life sentences.

Crypto Exchanges were also not far from the news in recent weeks. In late January, news hit the wires of South Korea’s 2^nd largest exchange, Bithumb, suspending crypto withdrawals.

The suspension of withdrawals reportedly came in response to the NH Agricultural Bank demanding customer verification certification (KYC) for all personal wallets.

Bithumb accounts for approximately 13% of the crypto exchange market. South Korea’s largest crypto exchange is Upbit, which accounts for more than 70% of the crypto exchange market.

While regulatory activity has been on the rise, crypto exchanges have gained prominence in South Korea.

Unicorn Status for South Korea’s Leading Two Crypto Exchanges

According to Seoulz, 2021 was the biggest year for start-ups. An estimated record $6bn in venture capital investment led to a rise in unicorn start-ups. To qualify as a unicorn, a privately owned start must have a valuation in excess of $1bn. The number of start-up unicorn reportedly stood at 16, ranking South Korea as #4 in the global unicorn rankings. Holding the #1 spot in the U.S, with 206 unicorns followed by China, with 174.

This week, it was reported that, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Start-ups (MSS), crypto exchanges Upbit (Dunamu) and Bithumb achieved unicorn status in 2021. Upbit in fact ranked 2^nd on the Seoulz rankings, with a valuation of $8.5bn.

With the Korean government reportedly looking for the number of unicorns to increase to 20 this year, the regulatory activity could influence the success of reaching the target.