South Korea's Jeonbuk Bank launches won-denominated loan program collateralized by Bitcoin

PANews, October 12 - According to South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, Jeonbuk Bank, under JB Financial Group, has launched the first digital asset-linked won loan program in South Korea's banking industry. Initially available only to corporate clients, it uses Bitcoin as the sole collateral, with loan proceeds limited to business operating funds. The bank does not directly hold or manage Bitcoin; instead, it is custodied by a qualified virtual asset service provider. In the event of default, the bank does not acquire ownership of the virtual asset, but rather liquidates the collateral through court auction and other procedures under the revised Civil Execution Rules to recover the debt. Jeonbuk Bank has completed stress testing and established a valuation system based on the weighted average price of multiple global exchanges.