Hana Bank has signed an agreement with Upbit Global to develop Travel Rule infrastructure for digital asset transfers, extending its work with South Korea’s crypto sector into transaction compliance and transfer technology.
Summary
- Hana Bank and Upbit Global will jointly develop and test Travel Rule infrastructure for secure digital asset transfers and regulatory compliance.
- The partnership will examine sender and recipient verification, secure information transmission and links between banks and virtual asset service providers.
- Upbit Global will bring technology from its VerifyVASP Travel Rule solution, while Hana Bank plans to draw on its foreign exchange, payments and settlement infrastructure.
- Hana Bank has been expanding its digital asset business through projects spanning custody, stablecoins, tokenized assets and partnerships with crypto companies.
DigitalToday reported on Sept. 22 that the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding at Hana Bank’s headquarters in Euljiro, Seoul, covering technical cooperation on digital asset transfers and systems designed to meet regulatory requirements.
The agreement will focus on technology needed to verify information about people sending and receiving digital assets, securely transmit the required data between service providers and connect financial institutions with virtual asset businesses in South Korea and overseas.
Upbit Global already operates Travel Rule technology through its subsidiary VerifyVASP. The system verifies sender and recipient information during virtual asset transfers while transmitting data required for compliance and protecting personal information.
Hana Bank and Upbit Global will test Travel Rule technology
Travel Rule requirements require virtual asset service providers to obtain and retain information about senders and recipients when processing covered transfers. Relevant information must then be securely passed to the service provider on the other side of a transaction.
Hana Bank and Upbit Global plan to jointly review how those requirements can be applied when digital assets move between different types of financial service providers.
Technical work will cover sender and recipient verification as well as secure information transmission. The companies intend to research and test infrastructure that could support transfers involving banks and domestic or overseas virtual asset service providers.
Regulatory information sharing forms another part of the agreement. Hana Bank and Upbit Global plan to respond jointly to changes in digital asset laws, regulations and institutional requirements while exchanging information related to compliance.
Travel Rule controls are already embedded in South Korea’s crypto transfer infrastructure. Upbit applies restrictions to deposits from exchanges that do not meet its Travel Rule requirements, while transfers involving personal wallets can require ownership verification.
The exchange has continued to apply those controls as it expands the assets available on its platform. In August, for example, its rules for incoming token transfers allowed the exchange to request evidence on the source of large deposits, while transfers from noncompliant exchanges could remain uncredited until additional checks were completed.
Hana Bank has expanded its digital asset business
The latest agreement adds another technical project to Hana Bank’s growing digital asset operations.
Hana Bank plans to use its experience in foreign exchange, payments and settlement to identify financial services that could be built around digital assets, according to DigitalToday.
The bank already has direct financial exposure to the company behind Upbit. In May, Hana agreed to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, Upbit’s operator, from Kakao Investments for roughly 1.003 trillion won, equivalent to around $670 million at the time.
Crypto.news previously reported that the Dunamu stake purchase drew scrutiny from South Korea’s Financial Services Commission over rules separating banking and commercial businesses. The planned transaction would make Hana Bank Dunamu’s fourth largest shareholder.
Hana Financial Group had separately reached a strategic agreement with Dunamu to develop a financial model connecting traditional banking and digital assets. Hana Financial TI had completed a proof of concept for a Korean won backed stablecoin using the XRP Ledger as part of the group’s blockchain work.
Digital asset custody is another area where the group has built infrastructure. Hana began working with BitGo on custody services in 2023 and later became a shareholder in BitGo Korea alongside SK Telecom.
BitGo Korea secured registration as a virtual asset service provider in August 2026. Hana holds a 25% stake in the business, with its role built around contributing financial sector experience to the custody venture. The registered custody business offers another connection between Hana’s banking operations and regulated digital asset infrastructure.
Korean banks are building stablecoin and settlement systems
Hana’s work with Upbit Global comes as South Korean financial institutions test several models for using blockchain in payments, settlement and regulated financial products.
In March, Hana Financial Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Standard Chartered Group covering digital asset initiatives. Their cooperation included potential work on stablecoins, tokenized deposits, custody and payment infrastructure, drawing on the two groups’ financial networks and technology capabilities.
Hana has separately worked with KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group on infrastructure that could support Korean won pegged stablecoins and related digital payment systems. The Standard Chartered partnership expanded that work into cooperation with an international banking group.
Other South Korean financial companies are testing how blockchain assets could fit into existing settlement systems. Eugene Investment & Securities signed an agreement with blockchain company BEATOZ on Sept. 21 to test stablecoins for tokenized securities subscriptions.
The planned proof of concept will examine whether subscription, payment and settlement can be handled within one blockchain based process. Eugene built a tokenized securities platform in 2024 and is participating in Hana Financial Group’s consortium working on a won denominated stablecoin.
South Korea is preparing to bring tokenized securities into its regulated capital markets framework from February 2027. The first phase is expected to cover selected privately pooled money market funds, institutional bonds, certain unlisted shares and publicly offered fractional investment securities.
The stablecoin settlement trial will use Eugene’s existing tokenized securities issuance infrastructure to examine how stablecoins could be incorporated into that process.
South Korean authorities are still working through rules for other parts of the digital asset market. The Bank of Korea has supported a bank led structure for won denominated stablecoin issuance, while lawmakers and regulators have continued discussions over issuer requirements, reserves and supervisory responsibilities.
Hana Bank said its agreement with Upbit Global creates a cooperation model between a traditional financial institution and the virtual asset industry built around regulatory standards including anti money laundering requirements.
