South Korea's Korbit Introduces 'Aggregator for Cross-Border Payouts'

SEOUL, Feb. 5, 2016 — The Bitcoin and blockchain service Korbit has unveiled a new service called Hyphen that the company calls an “aggregator for cross-border payouts settled via distributed ledgers.” The new platform allows users to make direct-to-bank payouts across 24 countries worldwide. Hyphen takes a 1% fee per transfer that they claim is resolved in a secure digital fashion via blockchain technology.

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We are able to offer payments at extremely low cost by using distributed ledgers to move funds and settle balances across borders. — Hyphen

The Korea-based Korbit has been servicing the country for quite some time as the first Bitcoin-Won exchange initiated in 2013. Founded by three associates Tony Lyu, Kangmo Kim, and Louis Jinhwa Kim, the company has received $3.5 USD million in equity funding from 13 backers. Investors include Softbank Ventures Korea, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, and Tim Draper.

Now the company aims to use a distributed ledger settlement to “drastically lower the cost structure and risks inherent in cross-border payments.” Korbit states that several companies will be integrating the Hyphen platform and one of them is one of the largest mobile payment apps in Korea. Tony Lyu, CEO of Korbit, explains further:

Last year, we wanted to add an international remittance feature to our currency exchange business. We saw distributed ledger technology providing an opportunity for us to create a service fundamentally more attractive than the remittance services currently available in the market.

Lyu explains it was a tough process, at first, to find a solution and work within regulatory processes across borders. “We had to vet, and get vetted by, each local payout partner to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations,” explained the CEO.

Now with Hyphen, the platform can service 24 countries with its low-cost payment settlement that Korbit claims has no hidden fees. Hyphen enables multiple types of payment methods and local bank transfers as well.

Lyu adds:

We hope that this will lead to greater efficiencies in the cross-border payments industry as a whole.

With 100 million assets exchanged so far, Korbit is planning to launch the Hyphen network into operation March 2016.

What do you think about the Hyphen Network? Let us know in the comments below.

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Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Korbit’s web pages