Cryptocurrency Exchanges Not Venture Enterprises: South Korea

By Dmitriy

BTC Wires: In a press release issued on the 13th of August, the South Korean government announced their decision to exclude the cryptocurrency exchanges from the set of rules and regulations governing the venture enterprises.

The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups [MSS], a government body regulating the operations of venture businesses, said that it would put the crypto firms alongside bars and nightclubs as profit-making institutions that it would not encourage as venture enterprises.

The issued press release read, “The Small and Medium Venture Business Department [of the MSS] has no intention to regulate cryptocurrency trading and disclosures (ICOs), but as problems such as speculation emerge, cryptocurrency exchanges are not a target for the government to encourage as a venture enterprise.”

The governing authority also expressed their wish to promote blockchain tech corporations and other related firms by taking actions in their capacity. MSS was quoted as saying, “we will also foster blockchain technology and related companies at the government level.”

South Korea reattempts the shaping of regulatory environment as far as the crypto industry is concerned. However, the difference is that this time it’s in favour of the nascent technology after the regulations ruled out earlier this year caused social unrest. Good news also surfaced for the Korean crypto heads when Jeju Islands showed its legislative support to the industry (because of its autonomous authority policy) and speculated that the islands could be termed ‘crypto hub’.

Nevertheless, the South Korean government is following Japan’s footsteps in regulating the proceedings of the Korean digital exchanges. The country’s crypto companies will now have to deal with restricted banking and taxation obligations.

Despite strict rules and regulations, the innovative blockchain tech is hailed as one of the most important long-term investments with a potential of being the ‘new industrial revolution’. Therefore, the South Korean government is spending one-eighth of the total major spending fund that amounts to 5 trillion won ($4.4billion) on research and development relating to Blockchain, along with other large-scale projects like big data management and artificial intelligence.