Crypto.com deals pave way to South Korea licenses

Crypto wallet firm Crypto.com has obtained two licenses in South Korea through the purchase of two local startups. 

The company secured the licenses through the acquisition of PnLink and OK-BIT, according to a press release issued today. PnLink is a payments service provider, OK-BIT a virtual asset service provider.

The deals give Crypto.com Electronic Financial Transaction Act and Virtual Asset Service Provider registration, it said.

“We are committed to working with regulators to continue to bring our products and services to market, particularly in countries like South Korea where consumers have shown strong interest and adoption of digital currencies,” said Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com’s co-founder and CEO, in a statement.

Founded in 2016, Crypto.com serves more than 50 million customers worldwide, according to today’s announcement. It already holds licenses in Singapore, Dubai, Italy, Greece and Cyprus.

This is not the first example of crypto giants attempting to navigate local regulation through acquisition. In the UK, for example, both Binance and Bitpanda have acquired smaller startups that were successfully registered under the Financial Conduct Authority’s anti-money laundering regime. But in each case, the UK watchdog was quick to warn that registrations could be cancelled if necessary.