Crypto.com and KG Inicis enable tourist crypto payments in South Korea

Crypto.com partners with KG Inicis to let foreign visitors pay with crypto across South Korea via Crypto.com Pay. Merchants can settle in fiat or digital assets.

Crypto.com announced the deal with KG Inicis, the country’s largest payment gateway and VAN, to enable digital asset payments at Korean merchants and K‑commerce platforms connected to KG Inicis through the new Crypto.com Pay app (company announcement).

KG Inicis processes over 400 million transactions a year and holds roughly 40% of the local payment gateway market, giving the exchange immediate access to large‑scale retail rails (company announcement).

For tourists, the setup reduces FX and card fees by paying directly in crypto. For merchants, settlement options remain in fiat or crypto (company announcement).

Both firms will explore further collaboration, subject to local rules, including co‑marketing and new products and services (company announcement). Crypto.com ties this to its broader Korea push, citing regulatory registrations and plans to launch retail trading via its app (regulatory registrations) (retail trading plan).

Context: South Korea has expanded its Travel Rule for VASPs (Travel Rule overview), is moving toward spot Bitcoin ETFs (ETF report), is developing formal digital asset frameworks (policy report), and is increasing enforcement against non‑compliant platforms (enforcement example).