South Korea grants security certificate to the first crypto-trust company

Regulation and compliance is the name of the game if a company wants to succeed in the current legal environment around the cryptocurrency industry. Many companies worldwide are thus stepping up their efforts at both self-regulation and complying with rules in order to remain in the good books of law.

Presumably, with that aim, a crypto-trust company just became the first to be certified in South Korea.

Hyperithm, an asset brokerage firm in South Korea, became the first of its kind to receive an Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification, according to updates on its website. Even as it’s the first crypto-trust company to be certified for information security by a public institution, it clearly shows the shift of regulatory focus from being exclusively on exchanges to other crypto-related businesses.

Previously, crypto-custody service KODA (Korea Digital Assets) and virtual assets-only bank Sandbank had also received the ISMS certification. For the same, businesses have to go through review under the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA).

It is proof that a business has undertaken appropriate measures with respect to information protection. In the case of crypto, this investor protection is aimed at hacking as hackers could target the personal information of investors to extract gains.

In any case, this certification is a requirement for all crypto-related businesses in the country to acquire within this month. It was mandated by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Korea in March this year as a prerequisite for license authorization, with a 24 September deadline.

After obtaining the certificate, Hyperithm can now register with the FIU of South Korea as a legitimate virtual asset operator.