South Korea: No ban to cryptocurrencies

South Korea: No ban to cryptocurrencies

South Korea's Financial Market Supervisor told media outlets on Tuesday that the government will allow cryptocurrency transactions if they are compliant. The departure from a ban on cryptocurrencies came about three weeks after anonymous accounts were banned in South Korea.

Choe Heung-sik is the head of the Financial Services Authority. Since the 30th of January this year, the registration of real names is obligatory for all entities that want to trade with cryptocurrencies. This is intended to help curb any money laundering, tax evasion and other criminal acts.

In early February it was announced that using cryptocurrencies a foreign currency fraud in the amount of 600 million US dollars was realized. In addition, the new arrangement is intended to reduce trading in cryptocurrencies. Most investors in South Korea will probably not bother about it. South Korea remains one of the world's largest markets for cryptocurrency trading and home to many global exchanges.

U-turn in the crypto-policy?

Choe Heung-sik organized a meeting with representatives of the country's online trading venues. In the course of the conversation, he said that the government allows all transfers as long as they follow the rules. Some smaller banks are very reluctant to open digital currency accounts. According to the chairman of the Financial Supervisory Authority, banks are actually encouraged to offer their customers cryptocurrency trading.

On Wednesday last week, the chief regulator of the OPC, which reports directly to Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, said the government is excluding a fundamental ban on cryptocurrencies. First and foremost, it is about making trade more transparent instead of banning crypto currencies nationwide. Such news has helped the market to relax a little as South Korea, with around 30 online venues and countless investors, has always been a very important digital currency nation.