OKCoin: Formerly Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange in China to Launch in South Korea

Following the roadmap of its competitor Huobi, formerly the largest cryptocurrency exchange in China OKCoin will launch a trading platform in the South Korean market. Earlier today, on January 19, local media outlets in South Korea reported that NHN Entertainment, one of the biggest multi-billion dollar game developers in the country that operates Hangame.com, has partnered with OKCoin to create an exchange within the local cryptocurrency market.

According to South Korean media outlet News 1, OKCoin plans to list more cryptocurrencies than Bithumb and UpBit, which have integrated 10 and 30 cryptocurrencies respectively. Both Bithumb and UpBit are operated by some of the country’s most influential conglomerates including Kakao’s Dunamoo. Korbit, the third largest cryptocurrency exchange market, is operated by NXC, a $10 billion gaming company.

To compete against local trading platforms like Bithumb, Korbit, UpBit, and CoinOne, OKCoin has partnered with a major conglomerate in NHN Entertainment, to obtain sufficient resources and capital to address the South Korean market. OKCoin will also integrate 60 cryptocurrencies upon its launch, more than all of the cryptocurrency exchanges in the local market combined.

Chris Lee, the president of OKCoin, told News 1 that the company currently houses 100 full-time developers and is aiming to evolve into a global cryptocurrency exchange. Lee emphasized that in order for OKCoin to expand internationally, South Korea is an important market for the company to address and penetrate.

Last month, Huobi, another major Chinese cryptocurrency exchange that migrated to the Hong Kong cryptocurrency market, announced its partnership with Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings to expand into the Japanese and South Korean markets.

Due to the recent crackdown on cryptocurrency trading by the Chinese government, trading platforms within the Chinese market have started to expand into other major regions in Asia, such as Japan and South Korea.