Winds of change are coming to South Korea on the topics of cryptocurrency, the blockchain, and ICOs (initial coin offerings).
South Korean legislators at the South Korean National Assembly are starting to discuss and push agendas for drafting bills from July 13 to 26th.
We do not exactly know if the bills that the legislators are pushing will become law during the timeframe of July 13th to 26th because of the different views that many of the legislators hold on the issues of cryptocurrency and blockchain. The topics range from cyber crimes to the necessity to maintain regulatory frameworks. The legislators have a lot of concerns of regulation and security because of issues such as Korean Cryptocurrency Exchanges getting hacked. Even though we are unsure if the bills will become definite law during the given timeframe of the talks, but these talks are showing us that Korean governmental entities are now willing to change their hard stances on crypto-related issues. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has announced to the public that they have revised guidelines regarding activities of Korea’s cryptocurrency exchanges and operators. FSC further announced to ease rules on crypto-based assets to establish united regulations following the policies of other G20 countries. Last month, the FSC announced that there will be a reversal on ICO bans in South Korea, which was very good news because it showed the start of governmental entities becoming more accepting and seeing the potential benefits blockchains might have.
Rep. Park Yong-Jin / Credits to the Korea Times
According to the Korea Times, Rep. Park Yong-Jin (박용진) of the Democratic Party of Korea, Rep. Chung Tae-Ok (청태옥) of the Liberty Party Korea (LPK), and Rep. Choung Byoung-gug (정병국) of the Bareun Mirae Party are the leading supporters for easing up on regulations of cryptocurrency and blockchain and ICOs. They plan to submit their bills regarding the legal status of cryptocurrency, requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges, and other related issues.
Representative Oh Se-Jung (오세정) is stressing that cryptocurrency exchanges need to have more regulation and exchanges need to improve their security to ensure that issues such as hacking can be prevented.
Representative Song Hee-Kyung / Credits to Korea Times
It is said that Representative Song Hee-Kyung (송희경) of the Liberty Party Korea will be leading a debate on the security of domestic cryptocurrency exchanges on July 19th, which will be co-hosted by Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA). Rep. Song is concerned and raising issues about how to prevent money laundering, hacking, and doxxing.
We are still unsure what would happen during the next few weeks, but if the bills pass in the Korean Legislature, there could be a potential rise of more secure crypto exchanges and a rise to more legitimate ICOs. Under the new Korean statutes that would be in place to ensure legitimacy and transparency, it would foster postive changes in stability and security. Also, these bills could potentially ease the barrier to entry for using Korean Crypto Exchanges. Currently, depositing and withdrawing for Korean citizens and foreigners alike are not that easy. If there are legislations that pass to make it easier for people to buy/sell or deposit/withdraw cryptocurrencies or fiscal currencies, it would draw more positive attention to the importance of crypto and blockchain. This is good news for the crypto community because of Korea’s importance in the crypto world. Hopefully, in two weeks, we will be receiving good news about crypto and blockchain regulations that would further advance us into a better future of decentralization.