Shinhan Bank, one of South Korea’s top four lenders by net profit, has opened a “metaverse” site to provide what it called financial and non-financial services, claiming to be the first bank in the country to provide such a platform, according to local media reports on Wednesday.
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Fast facts
The so-called “Shinamon” metaverse platform will comprise zones for finance, healthcare, art, and sports, according to the reports.The bank said it ran a five-day test trial of the Shinamon’s service in June this year and attracted 85,000 visitors.Shinhan Bank’s announcement follows a number of experiments by the lender with blockchain and cryptocurrency related services.In December last year, it ran a test of a real-time international remittance via stablecoin with Standard Bank of South Africa and using the blockchain network Hedera Hashgraph.Shinhan Bank is also an early investor in Korea Digital Asset Custody, an industry consortium that provides crypto custody services. The bank is currently partnered with Korbit, one of South Korea’s big five crypto exchanges, in providing users with real-name deposit and withdrawal accounts mandated by local regulations for transparent transactions.
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