South Korea hosted “The National Assembly Seminar for the Virtual Asset Business Law” in Seoul in September 2020. This conference was a congregation of members of the National Assembly and major commercial banks, to discuss the need for greater cryptocurrency regulation in the form of “virtual asset business law” post-COVID-19. They mutually decided that the National Assembly must make amendments to the ‘Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information’. This piece of legislation needs provisions for regulating money laundering of virtual assets.
The conference was hosted by virtual asset lending company, Delio and Rep.Kim Byeong -work, the secretary of the National Policy Committee. This is a huge development for the Korean government, which is allowing private sector companies to actively influence policy decisions.
Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the ruling party in Korea, said: “Building an AI government utilizing blockchain is one of the main pillars of the Korean New Deal””.
Together, the Korean leaders discussed the influx of virtual assets into the country’s digital economy. They found it necessary to make amendments to the aforementioned legislation to allow virtual assets to enter mainstream adoption. Moreover, this new regulation would clarify the difference between virtual assets and finances.
Korean banks also supported the decision to make new provisions for virtual assets in the crypto regulations, since it would increase transparency and decrease inefficiency.
Bank of Korea’s CBDC and global regulation on cryptos
The call for more regulation on cryptocurrency comes at a time when Korea’s central bank is developing its own digital currency, the Digital Won.
While the process has not been completed yet, the Bank of Korea stated recently that it would start testing the digital currency in 2021.
Moreover, several other nations are regulating cryptos in their land. The USA is creating a national licence for crypto exchanges in order to create government oversight over crypto trading. Simultaneously, India and Russia are looking to control the flow of cryptos in their region. Clearly, the world is moving towards regulated digital currency.
