“We must change the negative regulation system to ensure that at least the virtual asset market is free from worries”, newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said about cryptocurrencies during his election campaign.
South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economic and technological power, now has a pro-crypto president. Candidate Yoon Suk-yeol emerged victorious in the recent presidential election held in South Korea. During his election campaign, Yoon Suk-yeol promised to remove unreasonable regulations and bans that exist on the cryptocurrency industry in order to boost its innovation and development.
The new president-elect, who wants to tackle youth unemployment and class inequality, has been making inroads into the industry blockchainYoon Suk-yeol released more than 20.000 tokens NFT during his campaign, as did his counterpart Lee Jae-myung, who also made the cryptocurrencies, its central electoral issue.
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Unlocking the unlimited potential of cryptocurrencies
Yoon Suk-yeol, who takes office as the new president of South Korea, is tasked with deregulating the cryptocurrency industry to attract investment and development to the country. The new president said he will work to remove the strict and unreasonable regulations and bans imposed by the outgoing Moon Jae-In government on the crypto industry.
Over the past 4 years, authorities in South Korea have shut down dozens of cryptocurrency companies and platforms to comply with the strict regulations imposed so far. In 2021 alone, the Moon Jae-In government shut down 70 crypto companies citing concerns about the risks of scams and money laundering that can occur with these digital assets. Currently, around 10 crypto exchanges and trading platforms are operating in the country. Three of these platforms manage the cryptocurrency accounts of around 10% of the population.
However, the newly elected president noted that existing regulations on cryptocurrencies “They are far from reality and are unreasonable”Yoon Suk-yeol said his government will review existing regulations and make necessary adjustments to unlock the unlimited potential offered by the digital asset market. Among his plans are to allow cryptocurrencies to be ICO of cryptocurrencies, which were banned in 2017, and raising the tax threshold to 52,4 million won (about 42.500 US dollars).
With these changes, the new president aims to attract new investors and unicorn companies from the crypto industry to the country. However, while Yoon Suk-yeol's victory has sparked a positive reaction in the crypto community, it remains to be seen whether he will follow through on his election promises.
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