During the last couple of months, South Korea’s attitude on bitcoin and other digital currencies has begun to change, and recent reports now indicate that the country is considering new regulation. Before anything else, it is important to point out the fact that following China’s ban on ICOs and cryptocurrency exchanges, numerous companies affected moved abroad to countries such as South Korea and Japan, where regulation was more lenient.
However, according to recent reports, there have been several proposals in South Korea, meant to prevent those who are underage from opening accounts on digital currency exchanges, while also taxing capital gains made from trading.
The proposals were reportedly issued following an emergency government meeting that took place on the 13th of December, where high-ranking officials discussed the implications of cryptocurrencies and how they could be regulated. During the meeting, another proposal meant to force exchanges to thoroughly uphold their investor protection rules, while also disclosing all offer and bid quotes were also made. It is expected that the government will go ahead and make an official statement on the decisions that it has taken on the 15th of December.
Fortunately, there has been no further discussions on the proposal made by the South Korean justice ministry to completely ban digital currencies.
The reasons behind these new regulations most likely include bitcoin’s meteoric growth in value during the year of 2017, alongside with the possible potential for money laundering or illegal financing. South Korea isn’t the only country considering adopting more regulations. In fact, the United States, European Union, Japan, Australia and many more are trying to determine what the best course of action is when considering laws applicable to bitcoin.
It is important to keep in mind the fact that the digital currency scene is divided into two sides when it comes down to regulation. One believes that the incoming regulations are not suitable for bitcoin’s libertarian scene and for what the cryptocurrency strives to be, whereas the other side agrees with the regulations, and believes that they’re a part of the legitimization process for the crypto economy. However, as long as governments aren’t considering banning this medium of exchange, regulations are mostly geared towards service providers, rather than general crypto users.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what are your thoughts on the regulation efforts being made by South Korea? Will these affect bitcoin, or help legitimize it even further? Let us know in the comment section below.