SL Bionics Signs MOU with Virtual Asset Exchange 'Prabang' That Passed FIU Approval

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] SL Bionics announced on the 13th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for strategic investment in the virtual asset exchange Prabang to secure investment returns through new business promotion.

After signing the MOU, the company plans to review joint projects or equity investments in the future, but stated that nothing has been finalized yet. Both companies are expected to take an aggressive approach to new business promotion by actively discussing not only equity investment but also the scope of joint projects.

The background for promoting the MOU is that, in addition to the four major virtual asset exchanges that support KRW trading (Upbit, Coinone, Bithumb, and Korbit), 20 additional coin market virtual asset operators have been newly registered, raising expectations that the normalization of Prabang’s KRW market operation will lead to a surge in users and substantial sales growth. Based on this, they plan to promote new business.

Prabang was launched in 2020 as a digital asset exchange, providing virtual asset trading services based on transparency and reliability. It has obtained ISMS certification and met anti-money laundering (AML) reporting requirements. On December 30 last year, it passed the virtual asset operator screening by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and its corporate value is expected to increase in the future. It is preparing to promote new business aiming to provide differentiated services from existing exchanges by categorizing market categories such as NFT, DeFi, and BTC markets by crypto market projects.

An SL Bionics official said, "After comprehensively judging Prabang’s business stability and future value and conducting careful review, we decided to sign this memorandum of understanding," adding, "The company plans to focus on actively securing new businesses with the goal of turning operating profit positive in 2022."

He added, "We expect that the investment in Prabang will secure high investment returns as the market size is expected to expand in the future."

Meanwhile, as virtual asset exchanges preparing to resume KRW markets after passing virtual asset operator screening are attracting heated M&A discussions from various companies, industry interest in SL Bionics’ investment in Prabang continues. The virtual asset exchange Bithumb, which supports KRW trading, has already surpassed a corporate value of 20 trillion KRW, and Huobi Korea, despite not receiving KRW trading approval, was recognized with a corporate value of 199 billion KRW by Korea Land Trust and successfully attracted 16 billion KRW in investment.