South Korea's cryptocurrency industry welcomes regulator's dramatic change of heart
[SEOUL] South Korea's cryptocurrency industry is anticipating much better times as the market regulator changes tack from its tough stance on the virtual coin trade, promising instead to help promote blockchain technology.
The regulator said on Tuesday that it hopes to see South Korea - which has become a hub for cryptocurrency trade - normalise the virtual coin business in a self-regulatory environment.
"The whole world is now framing the outline (for cryptocurrency) and therefore (the government) should rather work more on normalisation than increasing regulation," said Choe Heung Sik, chief of South Korea's Finance Supervisory Service (FSS), told reporters.
FSS has been leading the government's regulation of cryptocurrency trading as part of a task force.
Cryptocurrency operators have drawn a new optimism from Choe's comments, seeing them clearly indicating the government's co-operation in their plans for self-regulation.
"Though the government and the industry have not yet reached a full agreement, the fact that the regulator himself made clear the government's stance on co-operation is a positive sign for the markets," said Kim Haw Joon of the Korea Blockchain Association.
Wednesday's news is a stark reversal of the justice minister's warnings in January that the government was considering shutting down local cryptocurrency exchanges, throwing the market into turmoil.
Instead, South Korea banned the use of anonymous bank accounts for virtual coin trading as of January 30 to stop cryptocurrencies being used in money laundering and other crimes.
Bitcoin, the world's most heavily traded cryptocurrency, is now changing hands at a three-week high of US$11,086 on the Luxembourg-based Biststamp exchange after falling as low as US$5,920.72 in early February.
South Korean electronics giant Samsung has already started production of cryptocurrency mining technologies, local media reported in January.
REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
Beijing city to subsidise domestic AI chips, targets self-reliance by 2027
China passes tariff law as tensions with trading partners simmer
Blinken meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing
South Korea’s public finances no longer a credit rating ‘strength’: Fitch
UK consumer confidence improves as inflation and taxes fall
Inflation in Japan’s capital falls below BOJ target, slows for second month