Hana Bank to enter digital asset custody sector with BitGo

South Korea's Hana Bank on Tuesday said it signed a strategic business agreement with BitGo, a Palo Alto, California-based global digital asset custody (DAC) and security company.

The two companies announced this at the conference Korea Blockchain Week held at the hotel Shilla Seoul.

Both sides under this agreement formed a strategic partnership to jointly enter the DAC sector in line with BitGo's opening of a corporation in South Korea.

They will also pursue collaboration such as a review of joint equity investment in the setup of a joint venture and combination of BitGo's security solutions and DAC technology with Hana Bank's expertise in financial services, security and compliance.

Launched in 2013, BitGo provides digital financial infrastructure such as wallet solutions, custody, staking and trading.

Accredited by regulators in the US, Switzerland and Germany, the trust company serves 1,500 organizations in around 50 countries.

"We expect to contribute to raising trust and consumer protection on the domestic digital asset market by promoting the DAC sector with our global partners," a Hana Bank source said.

BitGo CEO and co-founder Mike Belshe added that through its partnership, his company will use its full capacity to improve the transparency and safety of the South Korean digital asset industry.

Write to So-Hyun Lee at y2eonlee@hankyung.com