Any crypto-enthusiast or crypto-trader who was active around January this year, can attest to the fact that South Korean crypto-trading made up the bulk of the action in the crypto-markets. But as soon as the government officials in the country started hinting at a complete ban on crypto-trading around late January, the crypto-markets were never the same again. What proceeded was FUD after FUD that caused a continual decline of Bitcoin (BTC) in the markets to the current levels we see now of $6,233.
However, the tide is indeed changing with the South Korean officials planning on regulating crypto-exchanges the same way they regulate commercial banks. The regulation will be carried out by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU) in collaboration with other local financial regulators. What remains, is the passing of a new bill that will allow the said local regulators, to have the power to regulate the crypto exchanges.
Additional news reaching Ethereum World News indicate that the South Korea Blockchain Association has approved 12 crypto exchanges. The Association has declared that the following exchanges have adequate security measures and internal management systems in place:
- Bithumb
- UPbit
- Gopax
- OKCoin Korea
- Korbit
- Coinone
- CoinZest
- CPDAXX
- HanbitKor
- Huobi Korea
- NeoFrame
- DexKor
The above news has been met with excitement by local publications who have predicted that a new wave of money, or capital, is headed in the direction of the cryptocurrency markets. This is based on the premise that crypto-trading in the country has been stagnated by the ongoing regulatory processes that had come close to banning the entire industry in the country.
However, some crypto-traders in the country expressed their disapproval of the inclusion of the Bithumb exchange given that it was the victim of a hack only a weeks ago and that the exchange is yet to resume withdrawals and deposits for its thousands of users.
One Bithumb user on twitter stated the following with respect to the news of the hack back in June:
For security reasons, please do not trade on this exchange again, because it is not the first time that it has been attacked by hackers. It is very likely that there will be another time.
In general, the decision by the South Korea Blockchain Association to give the green-light to the 12 exchanges is indicative of the possibility of similar positive crypto regulation by the South Korean government. This news comes at a time when the crypto-markets could need a ‘jump start’ into the second half of 2018.
