Cryptocurrency fully legal in South Korea! Cryptocurrency fully legal in South Korea after an amendment to the Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Information in a full session of the South Korean National Assembly. With the passing of this amendment, cryptocurrency trading and holding is now legal in the eyes of the South Korean government. The domestic blockchain industry is expected to restructure in the country due to this event.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in the country will have to enact comply with reporting requirements, but most large exchanges already comply with those rules already. The small and medium-sized exchanges will need to play catch-up.
President Moon must sign the amendment into law which will start the enactment process. The process will allow for one year from the date of signing, following a 6-month grace period, to come into full compliance. This amendment comes after a lengthy 2-year process of deliberations, trial and error, and the drafting of recommended guidelines.
This amendment will force exchanges, trusts, wallet companies, and ICO’s to have real-name verification partnership with an approved Korean bank. The idea behind this is to facilitate the transfer between cryptocurrency and fiat currency. The company must also obtain an Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification.
Some exchanges already have the real-name verification system on their platform, but the big caveat is the ISMS certification. The certification is granted by the Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA), and is very costly – but all exchanges must comply within 6 months of its enactment or risk being shut down.
Korean cryptocurrency investors have mixed feelings about this update in Korean law – some claim that a New Coin Age has begun in Korea, while others have said that these measures are futile.
To date, only Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit have the real-name banking system, while GoPax and Hanbitco utilize ISMS.
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