South Korea to regulate crypto industry

South Korea is planning to launch regulations for the cryptocurrency industry. The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU) and other agencies will oversee crypto exchanges, imposing the same regulations that are currently in place for banks. Along with the regulations, the exchanges will be required to follow strict anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines to help clean up the industry and ensure the exchanges aren’t used for nefarious activities.

Nowadays, Cryptocurrency exchanges are able to conduct business in South Korea as a communications vendor by purchasing a $40 license. Due to the lack of control, no entity, including the Free Trade Commission, currently has judicial control or authority over the exchanges.

A spokesperson for the KFIU commented, “Under current regulations, there are clear limitations in preventing money laundering on crypto exchanges because the only way authorities can spot suspicious transactions is through banks. If the bill of lawmaker Jae Yoon-kyung from the Democratic Party of Korea passes, local authorities will be able to impose identical regulations on crypto exchanges that are implemented on commercial banks.”