Crypto spent the weekend getting practical. A Korean convenience store chain is testing stablecoins at the till, a Korean bank now lends against Bitcoin, and the IMF found that tokenized stocks do more than half their trading after Wall Street closes.
- CU convenience stores test stablecoin payments with GalaxiaMoneytree.
- Bitcoin as collateral: Jeonbuk Bank opens South Korea’s first Bitcoin-backed won loans.
- More than half of tokenized stock trading happens outside US market hours, the IMF finds.
All three put crypto to work on everyday terms: paying for shopping, funding a payroll, trading on your own clock.
CU stores test stablecoin payments at the till
GalaxiaMoneytree, a South Korean digital finance company, will run a stablecoin payment pilot with BGF Retail, the operator of the CU convenience store chain, Chosunbiz reported on October 12. The system plugs into the stores’ existing payment setup, so franchise owners and staff can take stablecoin payments without any blockchain expertise.
Shoppers can pay two ways: scan a QR code the store displays, or show a barcode that the store’s point of sale terminal reads. Both companies plan to keep working together on stablecoin payments.
Source: Chosunbiz
Zypto take: In-store crypto payments live or die at the cashier, and this pilot is built so the person behind the counter needs no blockchain knowledge at all. Shops that want the same at their own tills can use Zypto Pay, which takes crypto online and in person through POS and soft-POS, with 0% merchant-side processing fees.
Jeonbuk Bank lends won against Bitcoin
Source: Crypto Briefing
Jeonbuk Bank, part of JB Financial Group, launched South Korea’s first won loans secured by Bitcoin on October 12, Crypto Briefing reported. The loans cover corporate clients’ operating costs, and Bitcoin is the only digital asset accepted, chosen for its liquidity and trading volume.
The bank doesn’t hold the pledged coins. Licensed custodians that meet South Korea’s security and user protection rules keep them, while the bank values the collateral using weighted prices from several global exchanges.
Zypto take: A bank lending its own currency against Bitcoin is a bank treating it as an asset with value of its own. For the length of a loan the coins sit with a custodian, and that’s the trade a borrower chooses to make. The rest of the time, a base asset with no issuer is best kept where you hold the keys, in Zypto App. Download Zypto App.
Tokenized stocks trade when Wall Street sleeps
More than half of tokenized stock trading happens outside regular US market hours, according to an International Monetary Fund study reported by Decrypt on October 11. The IMF tracked the five most liquid tokenized US equities, including tokens following Tesla, Nvidia and the S&P 500, across 11 venues for a year.
When markets reopened, traditional shares absorbed 87% to 99% of the moves their tokens had already made overnight. The IMF also found the tokens about 1.5 times as volatile as the shares they track, in a market worth about $2.3 billion.
Source: Decrypt
Zypto take: People are trading tokenized stocks while exchanges are shut, and the prices they set carry into the next opening bell. That’s value moving on the holder’s schedule. Zypto App gives access to real world assets next to 24,000+ crypto assets, so they can live in the same wallet you already use.
Key Takeaways
- Stablecoin checkout is being designed around the cashier, which is how it reaches ordinary shops.
- Banks are starting to price Bitcoin as collateral, a sign it’s treated as an asset with lasting value.
- Demand for tokenized assets follows people’s hours more than an exchange’s timetable.
- Who holds an asset, a custodian, an issuer or you, still decides who controls it.
- From the corner shop to the company loan, more of everyday finance is getting a crypto option built in.
