부산 광안대교. 출처=Doo Ho Kim/flickr
Busan's Gwangan Bridge. Source=Doo Ho Kim/Flickr

The city of Busan is planning on building its own virtual asset exchange.

According to documents acquired by CoinDesk Korea on July 29, the city is planning on investing 45 billion won (around $39.2 million) into a “partially city-run” virtual asset exchange, with the goal of launching in December 2024.

Work on the exchange is set to begin in January 2022. The city has yet to announce the firms it will partner with to build and run the exchange.

Busan is the only Korean city that has devoted a “special regulation-free zone” for blockchain technology development, which was formed in July 2019.

The above document was drafted by the "smart city" section of the city government's future industry division back in March of this year.

It says that the city predicts the oncoming of "cashless societies brought on by the acceleration of the digital economy," and acknowledges that "the institutionalization of tokenized and virtual assets that offer greater liquidity is occurring around the world."

The document provides the examples of Singapore and Switzerland.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced in January 2021 that it was partnering with the investment firm Temasek to launch "Asia Pacific's first exchange-led digital asset venture."

The Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) has been running test trials of a digital asset exchange since 2019.

Both major candidates in Busan's mayoral election back in April promised to build a digital asset exchange during their campaigns, indicating the city's level of public interest in blockchain technology and crypto projects.

한글기사: 부산시, 450억 규모 디지털자산 거래소 설립 밑작업 돌입

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