Alchemy Pay, a payment platform that links businesses to cryptocurrency payments, is eyeing expansion in South Korea following its US$10 million funding from a new partnership with blockchain investment firm DWF Labs.
See related article: South Korea issues guideline on cryptocurrencies as securities tokens ahead of planned legalization
Fast facts
- South Korea’s high level of cryptocurrency acceptance provided a “robust market base” that prompted Alchemy to expand to the region, the company said in the press release.
- The Singapore-based payment firm has worked with various international and local service providers such as Visa, Mastercard, Google Pay and Apple Pay. Its valuation was estimated at US$400 million during the funding phase, according to the release.
- South Korea has over 6.2 million crypto users as of 2022, in a population of 51 million, according to the Financial Services Commission.
- Last year, South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol said that his administration will support a safer and more stable trading environment for crypto and other digital assets, including securities tokens and non-fungible tokens.
- The country is working to develop an all-encompassing regulatory framework for digital assets, aiming to announce some progress in legislation by the first half of this year and to enact the regulations in 2024.
- In February, South Korea published a guideline for crypto service providers in determining a digital asset as financial securities, in a move to bring more clarity to the existing regulations on cryptocurrencies.
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