Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, is striving to become a crypto hub. Busan has been designated a “super-aged city” by the South Korean government, and its officials believe crypto can turn things around by attracting young people, tech startups, and investors.
South Korean city hopes to become a crypto hub
Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, is working to position itself as a crypto hub, Bloomberg reported Monday. The port city faces demographic challenges as it has been designated a “super-aging” city by the South Korean government, meaning that more than 20% of its population is over 65 years old.
Busan officials believe that by embracing cryptocurrency, they can attract investment from young people, technology startups, and venture capital firms.
Noting that young people prefer to work in fields like crypto, Park Kwang-hee, head of Busan’s finance and blockchain department, was quoted by the publication as saying.
We thought it was right to focus on digital assets and financial instruments.
Park noted that despite the collapse of crypto exchange FTX last November, Busan remains committed to its plan to become a crypto hub.
The city has signed a memorandum of understanding with several of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance Holdings Ltd. to launch the Busan Digital Asset Exchange by the end of this year. Binance announced last August that as part of the agreement, Busan will “receive technical and infrastructure support from Binance” and that both exchanges will share an order form.
The Busan Digital Asset Exchange also plans to enter into security tokens. The South Korean government is considering reversing its 2017 ban on all initial coin offerings (ICOs) and allowing the issuance of such tokens next year.
Additionally, Busan’s drive to become a cryptocurrency hub includes attracting blockchain companies: in 2019, the city became a regulation-free zone for blockchain testing and related business development. It is currently backing six projects by 17 companies. Last December, 15 more blockchain companies moved into the Busan International Finance Center, bringing the total to 29.
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