South Korea will present a new bill on crypto regulation in the second half of the year

What’s new? South Korea has officially started discussions to develop the second part of the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, the bill is planned to be drafted in the second half of this year, local media report. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) held a meeting on January 15 to outline key aspects to be included in the document.

Material by Edaily

What else is known? South Korea’s first cryptocurrency regulatory system aimed at protecting investors came into effect last July after a law was passed a year earlier. It set stricter requirements for exchanges: among other things, platforms now need to keep at least 80% of users’ crypto deposits in cold storage separate from their own funds.

FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young noted during the meeting that the world’s largest economies are accelerating the development of rules to regulate cryptocurrencies to eliminate uncertainty and protect investors.

He emphasized that the complementary regulatory framework should be based on a comprehensive and systematic approach covering service providers, users, and the crypto market.

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The meeting discussed the need to increase the transparency of the process of listing coins on exchanges and to ensure compliance with the same disclosure requirements for crypto firms that apply to companies in traditional finance.

The officials also discussed the regulation of stablecoins. They intend to examine global practices regarding stablecoin reserve asset management and users’ repurchase rights.

South Korea’s crypto market is one of the largest and most active in the world, with local centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Upbit ranking third globally in December in terms of trading volume at $283,4 billion.

For 2024, spot trading volume on Upbit grew 82,5% to $1,26 trillion. Traffic grew 26% to 108,4 million visits.

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Earlier it became known that the Parliament of South Korea intends to consider the introduction of a tax on crypto income from this year. Also in connection with Donald Trump’s plans to create a national bitcoin reserve, a similar initiative was discussed in the FSC, but the head of the regulator rejected the possibility of its implementation in the near future.