Is Samsung ready to launch a crypto exchange? The technology giant Samsung has reportedly filed documents with the South Korean authorities for the opening of a crypto exchange in 2023. So will we see the arrival of a new giant in the crypto arena?
A launch scheduled for the first half of 2023
The financial newspaper NewsPim tells us that Samsung via its Securities branch as well as 6 other companies has requested preliminary authorization from the South Korean authorities for the opening of a crypto exchange during the first half of 2023. Samsung's Securities branch is a management company that offers various investment advisory, wealth management, and trading services.
Samsung Securities is notably accompanied by Mirae Asset Securities, a branch of the country's largest investment company. Mirae Asset Securities Co. is also the largest stock brokerage firm by market capitalization in the country. The company has over $648 billion under management.
NewsPim tells us that the investment giant has already created a subsidiary in charge of this crypto exchange. The company is already looking for technical staff, in particular, to conduct research and develop various platforms related to the blockchain. Samsung is following the same path and is working on various studies concerning the crypto ecosystem to best prepare for its entry.
A favorable political context
Still, according to NewsPim, this interest shown by a giant like Samsung for the crypto industry is notably due to the election of President Yoon Suk-Yeol last May. The latter has been very supportive of the crypto industry. In particular, he promised the deregulation of the crypto market.
With this in mind, we learn that the South Korean regulator, the Financial Services Commission of South Korea (Financial Services Commission or FSC in English) is working on a revision of the texts of laws concerning Bitcoin and cryptos. The FSC's position favors a law specifically regulating digital assets by separating them in particular between security tokens and non-security tokens.
It is therefore a proposal for regulation specific to cryptos and not the adaptation of an old framework dedicated to classic financial instruments as we observe in particular in certain European countries.
A global giant in the crypto universe
Samsung is one of the largest technology companies in the world and its arrival in the industry is not without consequences. Samsung is indeed the 6th most powerful company in the world behind Apple, Amazon, and Google but ahead of Facebook, Huawei, and Verizon according to the BrandFinance ranking. Its consolidated revenue just hit a record for the third quarter of 2022 at $58.2 billion, up 19% year-over-year.
The arrival of a player with such means is enough to worry the giants already in place, but it is also the signal of the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies. A recent ranking also told us that Samsung was among the 10 largest companies to have invested heavily in the blockchain sector according to BlockData.
The technology giant had in particular made headlines by investing in the company Animoca Brands, responsible for the successful game Axie Infinity. It was through Samsung Venture Investment that the company participated in a $140 million fundraising for the blockchain game developer. A Samsung Ventures spokesperson says:
"We are on the verge of a fundamental shift in multiple aspects of our digital lives, including how we enjoy games and how we purchase and use virtual goods. Animoca Brands is the company making this decentralized future of gaming possible."
These recent announcements testify to Samsung's strategy of establishing itself in the crypto and Web 3 universe. With its strike force, there is no doubt that Samsung will be able to move the lines and contribute massively to the adoption of cryptos.
We will closely monitor the opening of this exchange in 2023 and the new announcements from the side of the South Korean technology giant.
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