이 기사는 2021년 09월 03일 08시04분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s three top cryptocurrency exchanges - Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit – launched COnnect Digital Exchanges or CODE, a joint venture to co-develop solutions for a travel rule system.

The travel rule is a global standard imposed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental anti-money laundering watchdog, on virtual asset service providers such as crypto exchanges to combat illegal movement of funds. Virtual asset service providers are required to collect information on senders and recipients when transferring virtual assets.

Under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, South Korean virtual asset service providers are required to establish a travel rule system by March 2022.

CODE plans to officially kick off this month, according to industry sources on Wednesday. The three crypto exchanges invested 300 million won ($258,486) each in the new joint venture, each holding 33.3% of the voting rights. The size of the workforce and the location of the headquarters have not been finalized yet.

The newly established joint venture will be led by Coinone chief executive officer Cha Myung-hoon. Coinone will be responsible for technology and development while Bithumb will handle marketing and business strategy. Korbit chief financial officer Kim Hoi-seok will oversee overall finances of the joint venture.

Coinone has taken charge of the technology and development part given that Cha is a renowned developer. In order to create synergy, it is appropriate for Cha, who has a better understanding of technology than CEOs of Bithumb and Korbit, to lead the joint venture.

Bithumb will lead the business strategy and marketing activities as it is one of the two largest exchanges in Korea and has the largest number of users and trading volume among the three crypto exchanges.

Korbit has the largest number of anti-money laundering specialists among South Korea’s top four crypto exchanges. As of August, six Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (CAMS) and one Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS) worked for Korbit. (Reporting by Sang-woo Seong)