MoonPay launches Korea operations as part of Asia growth push
MoonPay executives pose during MoonPay Korea's launch event at Conrad Seoul, Tuesday. From right are Lee Bu-geon, MoonPay’s head of Asia, Caroline Pham, chief legal officer, and Tschoe Han-kyeol, vice president of strategy for Korea. Korea Times photo by Lee Yeon-woo
MoonPay said Tuesday that it has launched its Korean subsidiary, with plans to establish the country as a key hub for its expansion across Asia.
Korea has a well-developed ecosystem spanning banks, credit card companies, lifestyle platforms and blockchain. MoonPay plans to connect its global payments and stablecoin infrastructure with Korean financial services to offer practical services, including cross-border remittances, payments and settlement, and the global distribution of digital assets.
"Beyond simply holding or trading digital assets, their use could expand significantly if people were able to send, receive and make payments through familiar financial services," said Lee Bu-geon, MoonPay's head of Asia. "We will work with our domestic partners to build on-chain financial services that are faster, more affordable and more convenient."
It is particularly focused on demand for cross-border fund flows, including remittances for international students, payments by foreign nationals in Korea, overseas payments by businesses and the global distribution of Korean digital assets.
MoonPay is pursuing cooperation with Woori Bank, KB Financial Group and KakaoBank across a range of areas. In April, MoonPay teamed up with Kosdaq-listed Sungho Electronics and its largest shareholder, Seoryong Electronics, to acquire Finger, one of Korea's first-generation fintech companies, for 110 billion won ($81 million).
MoonPay plans to gradually expand its services in Korea after meeting the applicable regulatory requirements for each service, including virtual asset service provider reporting requirements and other necessary licenses and registrations.
"With Korea as our base, we are committed to working with local partners to expand Korean financial services across Asian markets," Lee said.
Established in 2019, MoonPay helps businesses and consumers move value more seamlessly between fiat currencies and digital assets. The company has processed more than $45 billion in cumulative transaction volume and has more than 32 million verified users. Over the past 12 months, it has worked with more than 1,500 onboarding and transaction partners.