13,000 South Korean ATMs to Enable Litecoin Withdrawals

Litecoin (LTC), the cryptocurrency created by Charlie Lee to be the “silver to Bitcoin’s gold” back in 2011, may be about to see more real-world use as more than 13,000 ATMs in South Korea enable LTC withdrawals directly to Korean won (KRW).

The Litecoin Foundation said it has teamed up with the South Korean peer-to-peer crypto trading provider MeconCash to integrate litecoin into its M.Pay platform. Following the completion of the project, the integration is expected to allow litecoin to be exchanged to Korean won and withdrawn at thousands of ATMs across the country.

As pointed out in the announcement, this also opens up new possibilities for overseas Koreans who can use litecoin to send remittances to friends and family back in South Korea. The funds can then be directly withdrawn in cash from an ATM, making it more convenient for people who have no experience with cryptocurrency. The South Korean remittances market is worth approximately USD 6 billion per year, the announcement said.

“This is only the beginning of a fruitful partnership and users can expect to see more interesting collaborations between MeconCash and Litecoin Foundation in the future,” the Foundation added.

Further, Charlie Lee, who is also the managing director of the Litecoin Foundation, called this partnership a “big step” for Litecoin as it extends its reach in South Korea:

“Litecoin’s integration into M.Pay’s platform and large network of ATM’s is a big step toward expanding Litecoin’s footprint in the South Korean market, and we are excited to partner with MeconCash as they continue to grow their platform and offer additional services through which Litecoin can be used,” Lee said.

As of press time on Friday (13:07 UTC), LTC is trading at USD 58, down 5.6% over the past 24 hours and 21% in a week.