Recently, as the cryptocurrency investment craze is intensifying, bank deposits and savings funds are moving to cryptocurrency transactions. On the 20th, the prices of major coins are displayed on the marketplace in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul of Upbit, a cryptocurrency exchange. Reporter Shin Kyung-hoon [email protected]
Bank funds are fluctuating in the’coin frenzy’. As more and more people jump into cryptocurrency by taking out money in banks or taking loans. Several trillion won of funds have been withdrawn from banks, and more than 60,000 to 70,000 bank accounts are opened on average per day to invest in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Although the government has launched a special crackdown on illegal activities to prevent overheating, there are concerns that the frenzy will not easily subside.
According to the banknote on the 20th, the total amount received (1,333,1442 billion won) from the five major banks such as Shinhan Kookmin Hana Woori Nonghyup and demand deposit decreased by 17,5787 billion won from the end of March. It has been three months since January this year that the bank’s receipt balance has decreased. An official from a commercial bank said, “Even though there were no major public offering stocks this month, deposits decreased significantly.” “It seems that the cryptocurrency craze following real estate and stocks had an effect.”
In the financial sector, it is predicted that there will be at least 60,000 to 70,000 new individuals entering into coin transactions per day. This is because the number of bank accounts that are essential to buying and selling coins on the four major domestic cryptocurrency exchanges (Upbit Bithumb Coinone Corbit) is increasing rapidly.
Nonghyup Bank and Shinhan Bank, which issue real name verification accounts to Bithumb, Coinone, and Kobit, respectively, have opened 249940 new accounts by the 16th of this month. The average daily (based on business days) is 2828. It has more than doubled from a year ago. K-Bank, which offers upbit’s real-name account, also increased its subscribers to 1.08 million in 20 days. An average of 60,000 people per day increased. An official from a bank said, “April is not a time when new customers from college students and office workers are introduced, such as starting school and employment, unlike March, but account openings have increased.” I can do it.”
On this day, the price of cryptocurrency plunged by 5-10% at once. Bitcoin is down 4% from the previous day as of 5 pm. The rate of decline from the peak reaches 20%. Investment sentiment sharpened as the government launched a special crackdown on cryptocurrency transactions until June.
Bank funds lost 17.6 trillion won in two weeks and moved to cryptocurrency.
60,000 new members a day at K-Bank to open a coin account
Lee Mo, a 30-year-old office worker, recently bought a few cryptocurrencies bitcoin and altcoins (cryptocurrencies excluding bitcoins) for 20 million won. I was reluctant to invest in stocks unless they were’national stocks’, but I stopped hesitating at the news of my coworkers who made 2 billion won in two months by investing in coins. Mr. Lee said, “There is a saying that credit loans are basic, and they even got a severance pay-backed loan and jumped into coin investment. I started investing.”
○Kevin subscribers surge this month due to the’Coin Frenzy’
K-Bank, which provides real-name accounts on the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, attracted an average of more than 60,000 subscribers per day this month. At the beginning of this month, when Bitcoin and altcoins rose together, 100,000 people signed up in one day. There are also regular customers, but many of them are cryptocurrency investors. Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup Bank also open more than 20,000 new accounts per day on average. Most of the new subscribers are 2030 households, and the average investment amount is around 5 million won, according to the banking sector.
While they have a strong tendency to pursue’short-term profits’, they have learned that’if you endure, you will rise’ while watching the cryptocurrency market for many years. While the number is high, the amount of deposit per person is not large, so there is an analysis that the’coin fever’ will not easily fade in the future.
The recent outbreak of funds from large banks is also not unrelated to this’coin craze’. Deposits and savings from the top five banks were drastically drained, while K-Bank’s deposit balance surged by 5 trillion won from 3.745 trillion won at the end of last year to 8.72 trillion won at the end of last month.
In commercial banks, the balance of credit loans, which had stabilized until recently, has recently increased again. This is because’coin debt (invest from debt)’ is taking place even though banks are tightly tightening credit loans due to the financial authorities’ policy to manage the total amount of household loans. The balance of personal credit loans of the five major banks, including Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and Nonghyup, rose to 135.96 trillion won as of the 16th, an increase of 5725 billion won from the previous balance of 135.387.7 billion won. This is more than double the increase of 203.4 billion won last month. An official from the bank explained, “It is less than the’real estate debt investment’ phase, which increased 4.6 trillion won in only the five major banks last November, but it is certainly a level of concern.”
○ Financial authorities “strengthening Kebang monitoring”
As credit loans are slowing due to coin debt, there are also banks that are strengthening monitoring of the movement of funds and making loan regulations more stringent. Since the 16th, Shinhan Bank has reorganized so that non-face-to-face employee credit loans through the mobile app Shinhan Sol (SOL) can only be applied for’three times in three months’ per person. Previously, one could apply for a loan three times a day per person, but it has a limit.
Shinhan Bank believes that’borrowing and paying money too often’ loans for single-shot investments in stocks and cryptocurrencies are excessive. There have also been cases in which consumers who opened a new account this year borrowed and repaid money dozens of times over three months. An official from the bank explained, “It is a measure to prevent the inconvenience of end users who make loans for the purpose of living stability funding due to the demand for credit loans due to debt.” Shinhan Bank decided not to place a limit on the number of non-face-to-face applications for public and policy financial products.
The financial authorities also decided to strengthen the management and supervision of banks affiliated with cryptocurrency exchanges. It is reported that the Financial Supervisory Service recently asked K-Bank to thoroughly manage the proportion of high-liquidity assets (assets that can be converted into cash) in consideration of the movement of cryptocurrency investment funds. This is because banks may face a’liquidity crisis’ if the cryptocurrency craze subsides and investment funds are rapidly drained in the future.
An official from the Financial Supervisory Service said, “We cannot legally prevent users who have gone through normal procedures such as self-authentication.” I ordered management.”
Reporter Kim Dae-hoon/Jeong So-ram/Pinnan Bird/Park Jin-woo [email protected]