South Korean Regulators Prevent the Issuance of Bitcoin Futures Contracts

Financial service providers all over the world are looking into offering Bitcoin futures contracts. Especially in the US, a lot of major players are getting on board. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean all countries are supportive of Bitcoin futures. We do know South Korea is opposed to such products, as the country’s regulators have banned the trading of these investment vehicles.

South Korea Rejects Bitcoin Futures

There is a lot of competition in the world of Bitcoin futures right now. Various cryptocurrency exchanges have offered such products for quite some time now. That is only to be expected, considering they can offer any form of investment vehicle they like as long as their license allows it. In the financial sector, things work a bit differently. While such futures contracts don’t require CFTC approval in the US, they are still considered to be controversial offerings regardless.

It is only to be expected that other countries around the world will have some things to say about Bitcoin futures contracts as well. Exchanges based in South Korea, where Bitcoin has become a lot more popular in recent months, are dominating global trading as we speak. Moreover, South Korean traders are pushing the price of Bitcoin well beyond what the Western exchanges can sustain right now.

In a way, one would expect South Korea to be rather open-minded to Bitcoin futures. After all, the popular cryptocurrency has made a big name for itself in the country already. Regulators have a lot to gain from introducing such mainstream investment vehicles to the masses. Unfortunately, it seems the country’s Financial Services Commission has banned Bitcoin futures from being offered for the time being.

This is a rather surprising turn of events, to say the least. Around two weeks ago, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service announced it had no intention of regulating Bitcoin or any other investment vehicle associated with the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Banning Bitcoin futures is a very unexpected turn of events in this regard, although it remains to be seen if this decision is final.

Given the positive attitude of the United States toward Bitcoin futures, it remains to be seen if South Korea’s decision will have any impact on the markets at all. It is evident a lot of people want to speculate on the Bitcoin price, and one could argue South Korea doesn’t even need Bitcoin futures, since the average Korean exchange price is already much higher compared to the rest of the world. It’s a very interesting situation worth keeping an eye on, though.

With the Bitcoin price quickly going up, Bitcoin futures may not necessarily be a positive development for this ecosystem. In fact, they may even introduce more Bitcoin price volatility, which is not necessarily a good thing. It is evident there is far too much speculation going on already, and it hurts the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole. With or without Bitcoin futures, Bitcoin will remain the world’s leading cryptocurrency for now. However, its value may be a lot lower – or higher – in a year from now.