The South Korean government evidently wants to ease off on cryptocurrency regulation. On Monday, it became apparent that the government will focus on making cryptocurrency trading a lot easier and more straightforward. In another development, it seems the country’s National Assembly wants to allow ICOs once again.
Another Regulatory Development in South Korea
A lot of things are happening in the world of cryptocurrency these days. Regulators all over the world are keeping close tabs on this industry, which ironically helps to legitimize it. South Korea seems to be leading the charge in this regard, even though some of its existing regulations will be revised in the very near future.
Some time ago, the South Korean government made it illegal to conduct initial coin offerings in the country. This was mainly because ICOs posed a legitimate threat to financial stability. Moreover, the number of ICO scams became rather worrisome, and a harsh course of action seemed more than warranted at that time.
Fast forward to today, and the National Assembly is seemingly looking to reverse that hasty decision. A new proposal would allow for domestic initial coin offerings in the future. Since the total ban on this business model took place last September, no steps had been taken to rectify the situation. As such, this new development has taken a lot of people by surprise.
As it happens, the National Assembly has very good reason to change its approach. Various South Korean enterprises have moved their businesses to other countries where initial coin offerings are allowed to take place. Switzerland has become an increasingly popular nation in this regard.
Under the new proposal, the National Assembly will introduce a legislative ecosystem which will allow ICOs to thrive. This will be done under very strict conditions which primarily focus on investor protection provisions. This seems to be a more than sensible approach, as investors direly need to be protected when it comes to ICOs.
Nevertheless, this is still just a proposal at this stage, and nothing has been officially approved just yet. Even if it were, it remains to be seen whether or not any initial coin offerings will be organized in South Korea. Given the country’s rather hostile approach toward this business model in the past, it will be interesting to see how this situation unfolds in the coming weeks and months.
