South Korea Progressing on Road to Cryptocurrency Regulation

The government of South Korea is making moves to require cryptocurrency exchanges to share user data with banks.

According to the Korea Herald, the system is likely to be introduced by banks in the country “late this month or early next month”. Currently, banks are not allowed to open virtual accounts, and anonymous accounts at exchanges are banned. Banks are also required to check if cryptocurrency exchanges are compliant.

A government official told media that the new system is geared towards tax compliance – by accessing transaction data, the government will be able to tax the activities of exchange users.

This news comes as South Korean credit card firms have begun blocking payments to overseas cryptocurrency exchanges located overseas, according to Business Korea.

The companies involved are Woori Card, Lotte Card and Shinhan Card. Shinhan Card is the largest credit card company in South Korea. Kookmin Card, another major firm, will also begin blocking this week.

As of now, 20 major exchanges are blocked, according to a statement from the Credit Finance Association of South Korea. “An increasing number of exchanges will be continuously blocked in the future. There are about 7000 cryptocurrency exchanges around the world,” it said.

The move is not like to be a popular one – according to the report, Shinhan Bank was boycotted by customers “when the bank tentatively postponed the introduction of the real-name cryptocurrency transaction system”.

Source: Finance Magnates

Jr Trader Alexander Kumanov

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