[Executive Summary]

• Shinhan Financial Group decided to cease the issuance of corporate real-name accounts to Korbit. As a trial, Shinhan Bank had issued real-name verified deposit and withdrawal accounts to a corporate client of Korean Digital Asset Custody (KDAC) in order to enable the use of partnered exchange Korbit. It is interpreted that the reluctant attitude of traditional financial companies and banks toward virtual asset businesses is mainly due to the recent downturn of the virtual asset market and the LUNA incident.

Shinhan Bank has suspended the issuance of the corporate real-name account for Korbit users. As a trial, Shinhan Bank had issued real-name verified deposit and withdrawal accounts to a corporate client of Korean Digital Asset Custody (KDAC) in order to enable the use of partnered exchange Korbit. However, due to the decision, Shihan Bank’s issuance of corporate real name accounts became a temporary measure.

It is interpreted that the reluctant attitude of traditional financial companies and banks toward virtual asset businesses is mainly due to the recent downturn of the virtual asset market and the LUNA incident. Korbit’s attempt was the first push by a virtual asset exchange to open a corporate real-name account in association with a bank in Korea. As Korbit’s attempt comes to a temporary halt, it seems inevitable that corporates will not be able to trade virtual assets through corporate real-name accounts for some period of time. The government’s active response is needed most for stabilizing the market by the establishment of institutions for virtual asset-related businesses.

It can be reasonably predicted that corporates will not be able to use their corporate real-name accounts to transact virtual assets for some period of time as exemplified by Korbit’s case with Shinhan Bank. It was confirmed once more that traditional financial companies and banks remain conservative against the issuance of corporate real-name accounts to virtual asset exchanges.