South Korea Finance Minister Says There Are No Plans to Ban Cryptocurrency 🚨 This article is 7 years old...
South Korea Finance Minister Says There Are No Plans to Ban Cryptocurrency
2 min read
Updated: Sep. 9, 2018 at 7:21 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
South Korea’s head of Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Kim Dong-yeon, announced Thursday that they have no plans to shut down cryptocurrency. He also added that they would not go as far as China has gone, who has shut down exchanges whilst trying to understand how to regulate the market.
Dong-yeon told Reuters:
“Regulating exchanges is (the government)’s immediate task.”
Which seems to be the only reason exchanges in any country gets shut down. The South Korean government is trying to get better understanding on what is going on, but once it has, there is no good reason not to let its citizens freely embrace crypto trading.
South Korea has faced a lot of uncertainty in the past, but this doesn’t seem to phase long-term users of crypto. In fact, one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in South Korea, Wemakeprice, is ready to flip the switch for crypto payments once regulations are better understood.
In an interview earlier this month, KFTC Chairman, Kim Sang-Joo, stated:
“[Shutting down cryptocurrency exchanges] is not realistically possible. Based on electronic commerce law, the government does not have the authority to close down cryptocurrency trading platforms.”
And not just law, but the fact that it is so decentralized would make it virtually impossible. Many people would continue to use regardless, which the government is also surely aware of.
Insider Trading
South Korea saw a lot of volatility this past month- with multiple “bannings” of exchanges/trading. This in part could have a lot to do with insider trading that a few were accused of in South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service.
Regulations are well underway in South Korea, especially now with anonymous trading on exchanges no longer allowed.
Many regulations worldwide should be expected in the following months, after the boom of interest in cryptocurrencies in December.
Posted In: South Korea, Regulation
