‘We should not equate crypto with blockchain’ South Korea’s top financial regulator

South Korea has been in a regulatory back and forth with reference to the government’s stance on cryptocurrencies and the operations of initial coin offerings (ICOs). Earlier this week, on Thursday, South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission reaffirmed their negative perspective towards the cryptocurrency industry and the wider process of tokenization, as reported by the country’s business news outlet, BusinessKorea. Choi Jong-koo, the chairman of the Financial Services Commission addressed the National Assembly regarding the aforementioned process. Jong-koo affirms the blockchain industry for its “potential,” however, he remains a crypto-skeptic. He said, “But I think we should not equate the cryptocurrency trading business with the blockchain industry.” Jong-koo added, “Many people say the Korean government should allow ICOs, but ICOs bring uncertainty and the damage they can cause is too serious and obvious. For these reasons, many foreign countries ban ICOs or are conservative towards them.” The Chairman also pivoted towards the ongoing feud between the country’s commercial banks and crypto-exchanges stating, “exchanges should be able to persuade banks to issue bank accounts to them.” Officials from the South Korean government have stated that the country’s final stance on the topic will be revealed in November. The government is consulting with several experts in the realm of regulation, finance and technology and is also conducting a survey on the same. Back in September 2017, ICOs were formally banned by the country, adding that fundraising through tokenization was “almost a gamble.” Countries like Belarus and Uzbekistan have sought out assistance from South Korean investors to propel the use of Blockchain in their respective countries. The South Korean cryptocurrency industry received news of the Bithumb sale on Friday, 12 October. Bithumb, the country’s largest exchange, sold a majority stake to BK Global Consortium, a Singapore based Blockchain group for 400 billion won ($354 million). See also: South Korean government’s stand on ICOs to be revealed soon  See also: UpBit, largest South Korean crypto exchange to enter Singapore market Image via Shutterstock Join our Telegram group