Bitcoin Forum

South Korea accounts for the #1, #10 and #14 cryptocurrency exchanges by volume. Yes, I know there could be wash volume involved, but as we all know from the Chinese exchanges' history, that doesn't necessarily matter. Korea seems to be approaching Japan with regard to market relevance, and Koreans are especially active in the altcoin markets.

So, the government called an emergency meeting yesterday (https://www.ft.com/content/9ab413d1-37b1-3250-90a1-19a121a1e936). The topic: methods for curbing cryptocurrency speculation. Sources at the Bank of Korea say that the government will announce measures targeting cryptocurrency traders by the end of the week. They already banned ICOs in September. According to the article:


Could this be fuel for a price correction?

nope i do not think so,
because as far as i can see there're a lot of confusion happened with them.
booming that happened with cryptocurrency lately made them think about to the opposite move that they're going to take.
the reason behind this confusion due to income that can be generated from the taxes.
in here i can see that they're trying to regulate their local exchanger and also lifting ICOs ban.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-koreas-financial-services-commission-plans-to-reverse-ico-ban
(of course they're only allowing a professional player to open up that kind of project and using ICOs system).
i hope it'll only become another japanese.

It's always the same cycle these type of news:

1) Government bans X related to crypto
2) The market panics and idiots sell
3) Government realizes banning X is actually not good for them since they are missing on big tax cuts
4) Government unbans X, but regulates it accordingly

Also the underlying aspect of Bitcoin that makes governments hold "emergency meetings" is just another sign that it works. No matter what their laws and decisions say, the code will obey above everything else, and blocks will keep getting mined every 10 minutes. Once people realize this is the intrinsic value of Bitcoin and it is a VERY HIGH one therefore current prices are highly undervalued, they will stop falling for the food. On the long term only smart money will be holding Bitcoin and these news will be irrelevant for the price.

I think the news is out that south korea will not ban crypto exchange like china did?
Could someone kindly confirm this?
Thanks

We won't have official word until Friday, when the government is expected to announce the new measures. It doesn't sound like it will be as bad as China. This is the long and short of it, according to Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-markets-bitcoin-southkorea/south-korea-considers-cryptocurrency-tax-as-regulators-grapple-with-speculative-mania-idUSKBN1E703O), but things are still under wraps for now:


It sounds like the ICO ban and the prohibition on banks dealing with BTC will stay in place. There will be new restrictions on cryptocurrency exchanges including a ban on minors opening accounts. There will be a new tax regime put into place for digital currencies --- likely a capital gains tax.

It's ridiculous that South Korea didn't have some barebones advisories in place at least. If they're concerned about their citizens setting their money on fire, then the government itself will be responsible for it if they're too heavy handed. It's also incredibly stupid and short sighted of the exchange operators not to see a threat coming. They should've volunteered to abide by some sort of code of conduct.

Korea could well end up another China and all that entails but I hope at least they get it over and done with rapidly.

I think rising price of Bitcoin has lead them to assemble for this emergency meeting. Without any doubt South Korea plays an vital role in the crytocurrency market and large amount of data flows through the country. The meeting is likely to discuss the future about the Bitcoin in the country and its integration in the system with proper tax system. The wind of bitcoin's value is making things unclear and mysterious everyday, one can only hope for the positive results for the future.

1. Ban bitcoin
2. Buy the drop
3. Embrace bitcoin
4. Profit

Wait what? Has this ever happened under the context where the country wants nothing to do with X, but unbans it with regulations? China's exchange ban, for example, is reversible because they have said that it needs regulating, and is not a permanent ban by any means. If South Korea bans Bitcoin trading under the assumption that it's a ponzi, then doesn't that rule out a softer stance and regulations later? Has there ever been a country that declared Bitcoin or something related a scam to justify a ban, only to reverse their position?

Anyway, losing South Korea will be a big blow, but nothing we can't survive. I still can't wrap my head around why some people think Bitcoin is a ponzi when they're so fundamentally different.

CHINA BAN REVISITED #128292  ::)

Whatever are you talking about.
They are just putting some heavy regulations and law on ICOs.
Bitcoin will not be banned in South Korea!
So there is absolutely nothing to be worried about if you're South Korean.
They may come up with stricter KYC/AML rules as well, but in no way will they ban Bitcoin or crypto currencies in general.

Of course it will cause a correction.  Wtf?  We've seen it happen over and over again.  BTC rises vs fiat and then boom, some central bank or some government starts some FUD making weak hands panic.  Then come the news sites taking advantage of this, releasing all the doom and gloom news just to get hits.

The plot is the same everytime. Governments announce crypto Ban, then they say that only ICO are banned. Some weeks later they say that it need regularization and it's done, some big guys make a huge profit. The funny thing is that I do not see any government fighting against stock exchanges speculation. So it's ok if I can speculate about shares of the big enterprises but I can't do that with Cryptos?

I always belived in south korea and I think they should have some advisors about this issue. Imho koreans are pretty smart to understand that bitcoin recently had a big pump and it is not a secret that BTC is in the bubble right now. Such situation might threat to their economy. Regulations are  not a problem by itself. They should be clear, understandable and not complicated. If koreans will do everything right (lets just pray for it) then we are fine.

even they ban cryptocurrency and trading it will effect only with new cryptocurrency top will never effect.

it’s only game from big players

The outcome of that meeting was that Korea banned derivatives (but left trading of coins alone). The price corrected briefly last night from above $17,000 to just about $16,000. And now it's moving sideways.

Definitely, price correlation is underway because of this as traders may likely sell their coins because of this issue. South Korea is one of the largest cryptocurrencies used country and when this was announced yesterday on CNN I suspect this is going to happen and that is many South Korean traders are going to convert they coins to fiat in other not to be cut up in the web.  I have been trading this market and one of the things I have seen happened is that when ever bitcoin price going up there is always away to force it into corrections by one law or the other.

Always the same cycle?
Can you give me two examples of countries that have BANNED crypto then they've realized they miss  "BIG TAX CUTS" and unbanned them alongside regulations ?

And how have we come to "banning" in the first place.
Even the title is about speculation. The article is about speculation.

They are afraid of market manipulation in which small investors might get fleeced.


Again, it's rumors, rumors and it has nothing to do with BTC as the only culprit or bitcoin in general.
The main target is exchanges that might have crossed the line, and we all know that Bithumb was trading 3000$ higher than the rest of the world one week ago.

They have been watching the space since at least late 2016 (https://news.bitcoin.com/korea-cryptocurrency-fintech-hub/), when they first announced incoming regulations. They banned ICOs 3 months ago and also prohibited financial institutions from engaging with digital currencies (presumably to deter increased speculation). They also banned margin trading of cryptocurrencies (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-29/cryptocurrencies-drop-as-south-korea-bans-icos-margin-trading). This has definitely been building for months.


The articles I've read make it sound like it's more about establishing a tax regime and enforcing tax compliance than anything else. But we'll see. An announcement from the government is expected Friday.

Look, basically half of south koreans bought bitcoin at a price it never reached anywhere else (from 19k to over 22.5k). An entire nation of bagholders. There is going to be a SHITSTORM over there.

Here is the report. Extract from https://news.bitcoin.com/south-korea-emergency-cryptocurrency-regulation/

South Korea Releases Emergency Measures for Cryptocurrency Regulation
South Korea’s government released emergency measures for cryptocurrency regulation on Thursday. Bitcoin exchanges will now be regulated. Among other measures, there will be a ban on banks, minors, and foreigners trading cryptocurrency as well as a clampdown on virtual bank accounts needed to trade cryptocurrencies in Korea.

Regulating Crypto Exchanges:
Issuance of ‘Information Security Management System (ISMS)’ certification next year is required. We will not allow virtual currency transactions unless the requirements for protection of investors, transparency of transactions and other measures are met through prompt legislation in the near future.”

A Ban on Banks, Minors, and Foreigners
The government’s plan to impose a ban on banks from engaging in any cryptocurrency activities. The government also decided to ban financial companies from buying, securing, and investing in virtual currency. The measures also impose a ban on foreigners and minors. “Foreigners who are not residing in Korea or minors including high school students will not be able to open an account for virtual currency transactions in Korea.” Those who already own cryptocurrencies will not be able to make additional trades.

Clampdown on Virtual Bank Accounts
The government’s measures include a “clampdown that called for banks to stop issuing virtual accounts for digital currency exchanges.” Banks are asked to confirm whether the owner of the cryptocurrency account is a minor or a foreigner. However, a bank official told the publication that “banks only issue virtual accounts to the exchanges and do not know who the virtual accounts are issued to.”

Crime, Monitoring Trends, and Taxation
The government also decided to strengthen the crackdown and punishment of cryptocurrency related crimes, including the investment and recruitment of multi-level sales, fictitious coin sales, and illicit transactions. In addition, the news outlet conveyed:
The police are planning to conduct a special crackdown on ‘hacking and personal information infringement cases’ related to virtual currency, as well as investigating the actual conditions of virtual currency transaction refunds.

All in all, this isn't what I had feared. I honestly thought it might be another "China bans bitcoin" situation, given their abrupt prohibition of ICOs in September and the overall insanity of the Korean crypto markets. The regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges was fully expected at this point.

I find this interesting, though:

The ban on minors trading cryptocurrencies is no surprise; I'm surprised there weren't already laws in place that prevented that.

But it's interesting that the government is doubling down on prohibiting "banks from engaging in any cryptocurrency activities" at a time when regulated institutional-level futures markets are launching in the US. The Korean government is obviously trying to clamp down on speculation.

For a correction to happen in this market we need to have a news like this,we might see a small correction in terms of alt coin market but the price of bitcoin will continue to grow till the holidays and then i do expect a good correction,all of my calculations were wrong in the past few months regarding bitcoin and i am sure everyone got it wrong but we need a good correction now and hopefully the speculation of Korean government coming out with banning of exchange might trigger something. ;D

What do they mean by "transparency of transactions" , other than verifying the identity of the customer how can you improve this?
I really don't like the sound of it.



Not that bad, minors should be banned in any country, and foreigners buying cryptos in large amounts are only speculators.
But without those we can experience some high price differences between exchanges, and a lot of volume loss for bithumb.
I wonder how many chinese are trading there , if any.


So the banks issue virtual accounts but they don't have a clue who is they issue to.
Lol, what a joke.



Actually I like this part.
Especially the selling of "fictitious" coins, as it means a clear stop to all the fake ICO.
Hopefully they will enforce this with a heavy punishment in jail time and other countries follow so we can get rid of them once for all.

Really many would like a correction in the price right now but remember the impact that the news from China for example those had in previous months and if we compare it to the prices of now,can clearly be seen that those practically did not have much effect and it was only momentarily,so the same story could  be repeated again maybe,but we will definitely have to wait for more news from the Asian country.

A correction may happen if they take action but traders are not going to sit down and just accept that, and then they are going to move their money to Japan markets, if South Korea does ban bitcoin trading they are going to regret in the future when exchanges begin to pay a lot of taxes.

South Korea will always be a contributing factor to Bitcoin's growth, so that will not change even when they 'change' things up a bit. Great thing is that current growth is coming from all over the world, and for that reason isn't centered in just one country like how things were when China was a big deal. It should result in a more evenly distributed growth that won't get impacted much if one aspect doesn't want to cooperate, or even withdraws itself from the market. This is what we all have been waiting for, and it finally starts getting shape, which is something we can be proud of, especially if you look back at where we have started.

We can only wait for the outcome of their meeting which I am expecting that nothing much is going to change at all. South Korea is trying to create a niche for herself in the crypto world, but they still don't have the amount of control yet to be able to influence what happen to bitcoin in my opinion. They will only make some noises and they could even ban bitcoin but I am certain that will back stronger.

The action will just shift elsewhere. People speculated that Bitcoin will become irrelevant when the Chinese government shut down exchanges. But we saw that volumes didn't dip, the action just shifted to South Korea and Japan. It is not possible that one country's crackdown will result in Bitcoin's price crashing. A correction could occur, but this would be short-lived.

I don't understand why there is so much panic about the "meeting" . Many meetings in different countires are conducted to get a decision for the use of crypto currencies . Korea is one of the most involved feild players of bitcoin .
Many altcoin projects belong to Korea . It will be very difficuly for government to totally curb bitcoin as the oppositions will not let that happen easily . These speculations are only giving more exposure to the bitcoin.