While the surge in bitcoin and altcoin prices has ushered in another wave of excitement into the cryptospace, South Korean authorities remain focused on managing local expectations surrounding the industry.
An emergency pan-governmental meeting has been held in a bid to keep the activities of crypto exchanges and other market participants in check during this “crypto spring,” reports local news source, KBS on May 28, 2019.
Curbing Unlawful Practices
Per sources close to the matter, following the recent bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins price rally, South Korean regulators held an emergency pan-governmental meeting on May 28, 2019, to discuss ways of ensuring that both crypto-related businesses and investors continue to comply with the local laws.
Reportedly, the meeting was led by Noh Hyeong-ouk, the Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, in response to the price of bitcoin surpassing ten million won (over $8,000) again.
Officials present at the meeting, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Justice Ministry and the Financial Services Commission (FSC), agreed to keep a close watch on local cryptocurrency exchanges, as part of plans to cushion the adverse effect of price volatility on investors, peradventure the market crashes again.
That’s not all, the officials have also pledged to collaborate with law enforcement agents as well as the FSC, to fight against fraud and fast-tracking relevant laws to prevent money laundering activities.
An Impending Exodus?
As reported by BTCManager, South Korea’s Minister of Justice, Park Sang-ki, disrupted the global crypto markets when he declared that the Ministry was drafting a bill to ban bitcoin trading outright for both locals and foreigners in South Korea.
Though Minister Park’s statement was later condemned by governmental agencies, as well as Korean citizens, it nevertheless succeeded in triggering a huge crash in the price of bitcoin and other virtual currencies that year.
South Korea would lose its lead as a front-runner in the cryptospace like it did last year if its regulators repeat the same “blunder” this year.
Commentators opined that the “Park Sang-ki rebellion” of 2018 caused a massive exodus of bitcoin traders from Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb. Implementing similar draconian policies this time around would only chase crypto traders away from the region once more.
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