On December 30th, it was reported that the delinquency rate of K Bank's cryptocurrency account credit loans in South Korea has reached a historic high. K Bank is the affiliated bank of Upbit, South Korea's leading cryptocurrency exchange, for its Korean won accounts. Upbit accounts for over 70% of the country's cryptocurrency trading volume.

After two failed attempts at going public, K Bank is preparing for an IPO next year. It has been pointed out that its over-reliance on Upbit and poor stability indicators may hinder its IPO.

Data submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service by People's Power Party member Kim Jae-seok's office today shows that as of the third quarter of this year, K Bank's delinquency rate for personal credit loans using cryptocurrency-related accounts was 1.28%, with a delinquent balance of 47.4 billion won. Since the bank launched cryptocurrency-linked accounts in June 2020, delinquency rates and delinquent balances have continued to reach historic highs.

It is reported that K Bank will resume its IPO next month. The effectiveness of the preliminary examination for listing obtained in August of this year will be valid until February of next year, so the industry believes that K Bank may try to go public again before then. Some analysts believe that the recent activity in the cryptocurrency market is favorable for K Bank, as it can create additional income by managing investor assets deposited on Upbit.