Korean Blockchain Startup Korbit Launches Aggregator For Cross-Border Payouts

Korbit, a South Korea-based blockchain company, announced on Friday the launch of Hyphen, an aggregator for cross-border payouts settled via distributed ledgers. The platform is available for direct-to-bank payouts in 24 countries and supports six currencies. The initial clients of the Hyphen network are expected to go live with the service in March.

“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”, Tony Lyu, CEO of Korbit, said in a statement.

Hyphen is designed to plug into the back-end of online marketplaces, consumer apps and financial services. It substantially lowers the cost-structure and risks inherent in cross-border payments by using distributed ledgers for settlement. Moreover, the platform also offers arbitrage opportunities to the client, with better FX rates as compared to the actual "mid-market" rates.

Several companies have already started integrating Hyphen into their workflows, including one of the largest mobile payments apps in Korea. However, Korbit said that a problem arose – while there were a number of blockchain-compatible payout partners worldwide, there was no cost-effective way to piece them together, particularly as they have to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.

Realizing that other companies would face similar problems in getting their services off the ground, Korbit shifted focus from being a retail service to becoming an infrastructure provider instead.

“We act as an integration partner for companies looking to make cross-border payments on this new, evolved value-transfer rail. It’s not as glamorous as being the brand that interfaces directly with the end-users, but someone has to do the plumbing work”, Lyu said. “We hope that this will lead to greater efficiencies in the cross-border payments industry as a whole.”

Korbit has processed over US$100M in asset exchange and transfer using distributed ledger technology. It has raised more $3.6 million in funding from a group of investors including Softbank Ventures Korea, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, Tim Draper and Naval Ravikant.