Global crypto companies often underestimate Korea by viewing it primarily as a retail trading market, but that perception overlooks the country’s sophisticated financial institutions, advanced technology infrastructure and growing demand for regulated digital asset services, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said.

These factors could make Korea an important market for institutional crypto adoption, he said.

“The biggest issue is not whether there is interest,” Belshe told The Korea Times in a written interview. “It is whether Korean institutions have the infrastructure and regulatory certainty to participate comfortably.”

On Aug. 20, BitGo Korea, the Korean arm of the U.S.-based…