Public Blockchain Is a ‘Natural Choice for Survival,’ Says Banker

South Korean banks and financial services providers will increasingly look to use public blockchain solutions, say experts in the country.

Seoul has been supportive of a range of private-only blockchain projects, and has even provided such ventures with multi-million dollar funding.

But South Korean Blockchain consultant Mira Kim told Cryptonews.com that banks in the country are “already preparing for the eventuality of a policy change” from Seoul.

She said,

“Private blockchain solutions are very restrictive if you’re a bank and need to be interconnected. Public’s the future, and the pressure is mounting from major businesses who want to push ahead with innovation.”

Per Paxnet, a director at leading commercial bank NongHyup (NH Bank) has spoken out on the subject, warning that although banks are now looking toward public blockchain solutions, the government appears slow to act.

NH’s Chung Gu-tae, the bank’s Deputy General Manager of Digital Strategy, stated that there had been “no discussion on the introduction of public blockchain” as yet, despite banks’ willingness to use public platforms.

He warned that banks “will not survive” the forces of digitization “unless disruptive innovation is put in place.”

A number of South Korean financial institutions have already adopted private blockchain networks for internal usage, and many have already conducted inter-bank blockchain pilots on private networks.

But Chung said that the financial sector was quickly realizing that public blockchain solutions “can be used to help banks survive” in an era where Bitcoin, altcoins and digital fiats become more prevalent.

The NH executive added that public blockchain solutions would provide the traditional financial sector with a “competitive edge,” and said that adoption was a “natural choice for survival.”

Seoul still favors a two-tiered approach to blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, whereby cryptocurrency-related business is highly regulated and marginalized – while private blockchain research and adoption is being encouraged across the country.

Banks in the country were forced to backtrack on their crypto and public blockchain plans after the partial crypto-crackdown of January 2018.
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