Dunamu has been selected as the preferred negotiating candidate for the Korean National Police Agency's project to store and manage seized virtual assets.
The police agency recently named Dunamu the top-ranked preferred negotiating candidate following the bid opening for its seized virtual asset storage and management project, according to the Public Procurement Service's procurement portal Wednesday. Korea Digital Asset Custody (KDAC) and HectoWalletOne also cleared the technical evaluation criteria and were placed on the list as lower-ranked negotiating candidates.
The bidding drew participation from major domestic virtual asset custody and infrastructure operators, including Dunamu, KDAC, HectoWalletOne, DSRV Labs, Korea Digital Asset (KODA) and Bidacs.
The bid opening determines the ranking of preferred negotiating candidates. The police agency will now enter technical negotiations with Dunamu to confirm whether the company can meet the detailed requirements set out in the request for proposal.
If Dunamu accepts the agency's terms and negotiations conclude successfully, a final contract will be signed. Should talks break down, the negotiating opportunity passes to the next-ranked candidate.
The police agency launched the bid last month for the project, valued at 267 million won ($175,000). The selected operator will store and manage virtual assets seized by police during investigations through a private custody arrangement for one year from the contract signing date.
The agency restricted eligibility to virtual asset service providers (VASPs) registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, and to operators authorized to perform virtual asset storage and management services under the Act on Protection of Virtual Asset Users.
Dunamu operates the Upbit exchange but also holds the qualifications required for this bid. According to FIU VASP registration records, Dunamu is registered not only to broker, arrange and act as agent for the buying, selling and exchange of virtual assets, but also to carry out virtual asset transfer, storage and management services.
kyoung@heraldcorp.com
