An amendment to the Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transactions Information was passed during a session of the South Korean National Assembly earlier today, signifying the official acceptance of trading and holding cryptocurrency into the country’s legal system.
The bill went through unopposed with 182 votes in favour and no abstentions, and will become effective by March 2021. The South Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been designated as the regulatory body overseeing the enforcement of the Act.
Official Framework
Seemingly based upon the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) advice for how nations should govern Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), the bill formalises a framework for cryptocurrency transactions and taxation within South Korea.
The enactment confirms existing guidelines for banks operating with cryptocurrency exchanges and establishes the need for those exchanges to conform to reporting requirements and comply with anti money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations.
While some within the blockchain industry will mourn the diminishing options for anonymous trading, others – such as Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) – preferred to view the new bill as a path towards wider cryptocurrency adoption.
The Korean development follows a flurry of worldwide regulatory activity this week that has seen both Germany and India clarify their national stance on cryptocurrency and digital assets.
