JEONBUK BANK LENDS WON AGAINST BITCOIN IT NEVER HOLDS — A CUSTODIAN KEEPS THE COINS — IF THE LOAN GOES BAD, A COURT SELLS THEM

Jeonbuk Bank, part of JB Financial Group, now lends Korean won to companies against bitcoin, EDaily reported on October 12, 2026. The bank never holds the coins. A registered custodian keeps them, and EDaily says the bank has no ownership of the bitcoin and no direct control over it. The rate, the loan to value and the custodian’s name were not disclosed.

Look at how the bank gets paid if a borrower stops paying. It does not take the coins. It goes to court, and a court-ordered sale turns the bitcoin into won. That runs on Korea’s amended Civil Enforcement Rules, in force since October 1, 2026, which let a court order whoever holds the coins to freeze them and hand them to a bailiff.

So the loan only works because someone other than the borrower holds the keys. News Tomato, reporting on the draft rules on July 6, 2026, noted that coins in a personal wallet are hard to move without the wallet address and the private key. The bank is lending against bitcoin a court can reach. Bitcoin you hold yourself is a different thing.

EDaily calls this the first Korean bank loan backed by digital assets. Read it as a price list for self-custody. The borrower gets won. The custodian and the court get the keys. At the time of this writing, bitcoin was $82,664.