Korbit Decides to Disclose Exchange-Held Virtual Asset Holdings... "Industry First"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Myunghwan] Virtual asset exchange Korbit announced on the 16th that it will become the first in the domestic industry to disclose all details related to the virtual assets it holds.

With this decision, Korbit customers will be able to check daily the quantities of all virtual assets listed on Korbit, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP), as well as the wallet addresses holding these assets, through the website.

Recently, the market was thrown into turmoil after FTX, the world's third-largest virtual asset exchange, filed for bankruptcy. In response, major overseas cryptocurrency exchanges have announced plans to launch services showing their virtual asset holdings. These exchanges are known to adopt the 'Merkle Tree' method to prove their asset holdings, but wallet address lists are not disclosed. In contrast, Korbit emphasized that it will disclose not only the quantities held but also the wallet addresses, allowing customers to verify the exchange's transaction details in depth.

Since the third quarter of 2021, Korbit has been conducting quarterly audits through Hanmi Accounting Corporation, an external auditor, to enhance the reliability of the separation of Korean won deposits and the quantity of virtual assets. Korbit explained that through these investor protection audits, it regularly confirms that it holds 100% or more of the Korean won and virtual assets deposited by customers in the exchange wallets.

Domestic virtual asset exchanges supporting Korean won transactions disclose quarterly, after external accounting audits, whether they actually hold virtual assets and Korean won deposits exceeding the amounts entrusted by customers. However, since they have not disclosed virtual asset holdings daily, there have been suspicions that assets are held only during the audit periods.

Sejin Oh, CEO of Korbit, stated, "The bold decision to disclose the quantity of virtual assets held was possible because we have always adhered to regulations and operated transparently." He added, "Korbit will continue to devote all efforts to building a virtual asset exchange that customers can trust and use, based on Korbit's unique transparency and reliability."