At Monday’s 12th annual FinTech Demo Day in Seoul, the chairman of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), Yim Jong-yong, announced that his department will “Lay the systemic groundwork for the spread of digital currency.” The FSC is the South Korean government office overseeing financial services.In 2008, the department assumed authority over all financial policies regarding the financial market from the Ministry of Finance, making it the government’s top financial regulator.While no details were given about the form or technology that the FSC’s digital currency will use, other than a suggestion that it would include a blockchain, a consortium on blockchain technology to jointly research and run pilot projects will be launched by the government and the local financial industry players this year.According to South Korea’s largest news agency, Yonhap News, Yim announced that his department is offering three trillion won in funding over the next three years, worth about US$2.65 billion, to financially support the development of the fintech sector in South Korea.

Yim described the measures behind his department’s FinTech funding spree as the, "Basic direction" of their second-stage fintech development roadmap, which they plan to unveil in Q1 2017."In the second stage, the government will place a focus on re-designing the existing system to be suitable for the fintech environment," Yim clarified.bitcoin litecoin ranking- Yim Jong-yong, South Korean Financial Services Commission Chairman Although this is one of the first times that the South Korean government has spoken up about blockchains, the country’s private sector has consistently been in the news for bitcoin and blockchain technology adoption since 2014.ethereal mac os xIn February, one of the country’s largest banks, KB Kookmin, announced a partnership with the number two bitcoin exchange by Korean won volume, Coinplug, in order to develop remittance and data storage services.litecoin news reddit

Since 2014 Coinplug has building bitcoin financial service infrastructure in Korea, including over 7,000 bitcoin ATM machines across the country, as well as 24,000 convenience store locations that sell their okBitcard, an over-the-counter way to instantly buy bitcoins.dogecoin crypto walletCoinplug has strong competition, however.bitcoin goaAnother 10,000 ATM machines and 50 banking institutions across Korea can receive remittances from bitcoin senders.litecoin calculator eurThe largest bitcoin exchange in Korea by won volume, Korbit, offers a service called BitWire, to accept these payments, mostly without fees.bitcoin core multiple walletsThe Korean securities exchange (KRX), based in Seoul, is also looking at the technology.bitcoin vs gbp graph

In February, the exchange announced its commitment to upgrading their trading engine and keeping securities on a blockchain.They plan to first add their non-listed securities as a test, much like Nasdaq’s Linq exchange has done.In April, competing Seoul-based securities exchange Daishin Securities announced that they are investigating a similar plan, and trading stocks directly for bitcoin.ethereum classic miningTo make their plan work they’ve partnered with Coinone, a Korean bitcoin exchange and shopping platform.South Korean electronics giants Samsung and LG, along with Cisco, several large local banks, and the KRX, have also invested in Blocko, a local bitcoin and blockchain startup.Formerly called Coinstack, Blocko offers blockchain IT services and a few public-facing bitcoin services, including a bitcoin cloud wallet, a free blockchain document timestamping service, and a unique government “Public monitor” that keeps track of government documents and promises on the blockchain for the sake of transparency.

Governments all around the world have recently announced that they are investigating their own plans for digital currencies.The trend began when the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government released a report in January, advising his Prime Minister and Parliament to consider using a blockchain-based digital currency.The Bank of England’s Chief Cashier and Director for Notes, Victoria Cleland, fanned the flames in September, giving a speech outlining her bank's work on Central Bank-issued digital currency.Cleland states that introducing a Central Bank-directed digital currency “Could fundamentally change the structure of the financial system.” The Bank of Canada considered issuing its own digital currency in a report they published in June.The Research Plan for 2016-18 investigates whether the Bank should issue its own digital currency and how it would work.Digital currency has also been considered in China.Governor of The People's Bank of China revealed that “Digital currency will co-exist with cash for quite a long time before it finally replaces cash."

However, he states that with the transaction costs of paper money rising, people will be motivated to opt more for digital money.The most talked about national digital currency, however, has been DNBCoin, from the Dutch Central Bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).The bank has been studying its own prototype cryptocurrency for at least two years, and revealed testing of three different versions in June.While interest in Bitcoin is exploding all around the globe, the jump seems to have been particularly strong in South Korea.Bitcoin has become incredibly popular in the country, with trade volumes going through the roof in recent months.This has prompted the three largest exchanges in South Korea to see nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in trade volume daily.More importantly for traders around the world, though, is the fact that along with the major trade volume has also come a significant Bitcoin price bump in those exchanges.Top Three Exchanges in South Korea See Record Trade Levels The top three Bitcoin exchanges in South Korea are Bithumb, Korbit, and Coinone.

These exchanges have seen their average daily trade volume climb significantly in the past several months.Together, these trading platforms are now processing about USD $200 million of trades between South Korean wan and Bitcoin each day.This goes alongside a South Korean surge in startups that are dedicated to Bitcoin in other ways, too.With major support from the South Korean government, the country's economy has been shifting more toward technology.Now, South Korean startups focusing on Bitcoin remittance and other types of financial tech on the rise.Up to $1,000 Over Global Averages The intense demand for Bitcoin in South Korea has prompted the top three exchanges to see price levels that vastly outpace those around the globe.Bitcoin in general has seen a price boost in the past few weeks that is unprecedented in the world of digital currency.Just days ago the currency was trading for more than $2,200 per coin.This massive discrepancy in price between Korean exchanges and those in other parts of the world has prompted some investors to capitalize on the arbitrage opportunities.

South Korea is quickly becoming a leader in digital currencies.The country sports three Bitcoin ATMs and is a hub for the currency's remittance market.The government has recently lowered the equity capital required for companies focusing on Bitcoin remittances, with the changes set to take place on June 18.Besides that, a team of researchers from the central bank of South Korea released a recent report suggesting that digital currencies can "coexist with fiat."The team explained that "the recent emergence of digital currency opens up a new type of dual currency regime in which the digital currency, which has no intrinsic value, and a government-issued fiat currency coexist."All of this seems to suggest that South Korea is a country to watch very closely for Bitcoin developments in the years to come, both for traders and for those generally interested in fintech more broadly.Want to learn how to invest?Get a free 10 week email series that will teach you how to start investing.Delivered twice a week, straight to your inbox.