From real-name account trading to investigating individuals using cryptocurrencies to evade taxes, government officials in South Korea are enacting stricter regulations to oversee the cryptocurrency industry in the country. These measures often require digital currency businesses to provide detailed customer data and transaction information to the relevant authorities. With these stringent measures often comes an increase in the cost of compliance for exchanges and other crypto service providers. Privacy concerns are another issue amid the swath of information being provided to government agencies. However, this strict regulatory climate has done little to dampen the enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies in South Korea. …
South Korea is heading into a new period for its crypto industry, with stringent new rules coming into effect on Thursday that will require all cryptocurrency businesses to comply with new crypto reporting regulations and registration rules. As an article from the Korea Herald outlines, industry experts fear that the impact of the new measures — specifically, the incoming Specific Financial Transactions Act — will have damaging consequences for most domestic cryptocurrency firms. The act requires all virtual asset operators to seek official registration, for which they must show evidence that they are operating using real-name accounts at South Korean …
Lawyers negotiating on behalf of Arthur Hayes, one of four BitMEX executives and co-owners accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act by United States authorities, have finalized the terms of his proposed voluntary surrender to a Hawaii court on April 6. As a letter submitted to the Southern District Court of New York outlines, the counsel's negotiations with the government on behalf of Hayes began shortly after his indictment was unsealed in October 2020. The proposed bail conditions, which are subject to the court's approval, stipulate that Hayes, who has lived in Singapore since January 2020, would potentially be released …
South Korea’s cryptocurrency regulatory space is set to become even more tightly regulated with the incoming laws on financial reporting for crypto businesses in the country. According to Korea JoongAng Daily, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, or FSC, has amended its financial reporting rules to include the cryptocurrency sector. This amendment mandates all crypto businesses — exchanges, asset managers, wallet providers and custodial platforms — to file records of their transactions with the Financial Intelligence Unit. The FIU is an arm of the FSC responsible for Anti-Money Laundering oversight across South Korea’s financial ecosystem. South Korea’s crypto reporting regulation will …
South Korean crypto exchanges that don't take extensive data collection and identity verification measures could soon be subject to heavy fines. According to an official announcement Wednesday, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has come up with a revised proposal for the regulation of virtual assets service providers, or VASPs. The proposal introduces new VASP penalty standards as well as simplifying and integrating existing penalty rules for the industry. As part of the revised proposal, the FSC will be able to fine VASPs for failure to report and record suspicious transactions. Fines will vary depending on the severity and character of …
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is toughening its approach to Anti-Money Laundering enforcement with a series of new measures that include trading restrictions, stronger Know Your Customer checks, and specialized blockchain intelligence solutions. The popular exchange, which has an estimated average of 1 million daily users and a daily transaction volume worth 5–7 billion ($4.4–6.2 million), had a troubled 2020 beset by police investigations over allegations of fraud. After a series of reported negotiations with various firms for a potential acquisition, major gaming conglomerate Nexon denied it was planning to acquire Bithumb earlier this year. The Korean Herald today cites …
Editor’s note Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final installment of Law Decoded, at least with yours truly at the helm. Though someone may pick this newsletter back up at some point, there are no plans to do so now. Taking advantage of the rose-tinted glasses or maybe the graduation goggles that are in effect for this final newsletter, I will be shaking up the format. As last week’s Law Decoded focused on a few long-standing stories in crypto, this week, I wanted to get thematic. As I will no longer be guiding you through the weekly changes in crypto …
Major American digital asset custody and security company BitGo has acquired a New York Trust license from the New York State Department of Financial Services. According to an announcement, the new charter enables BitGo to provide custodial services for institutional clients in New York seeking to make large investments in crypto in compliance with local regulations. With the new license, BitGo will provide Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering controls and offer offline cold storage of cryptographic keys in bank-grade vaults, BitGo said. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said that the new trust charter from NYDFS will help the company serve …
The Security and Exchange Commission's Division of Examinations published on Friday a blueprint for investment managers and institutions on how the division will inspect the handling of crypto assets, or “digital asset securities,” moving forward. The division (formerly the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations) is the second-largest wing of the SEC and is tasked with overseeing securities industry players to ensure regulatory compliance. Targeted toward investment advisors, broker-dealers, exchanges and transfer agents, this Risk Alert provided a broad list of specific procedural, bookkeeping and advisory steps the division will be expecting from securities companies in future examinations. “As more …
The Financial Action Task Force says it is set to publish an update to its guidelines on cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers; a catch-all term including exchanges, wallet providers, and custody platforms, among others. This updated document will also be made available for public consultation from key stakeholders. According to a circular issued by the FATF on Thursday, the decision to update its guidance on VASPs was the result of the organization’s three-day plenary session. As part of its announcement, the intergovernmental that focuses on policies aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing revealed that the updated guidelines …
Image a scenario where you need different messengers to send different types of messages — for example, WhatsApp for text messages, Viber for audio, Telegram for video, etc. Rather inconvenient, right? But this is exactly what happens in finance: There is no way to send both digital fiat money and cryptocurrency from a bank account without extra steps. It’s not affecting the masses just yet, but after the issuing of national digital currencies, or central bank digital currencies, in the next few years over the world, the situation is about to become complicated. We need to start looking for a …
Crypto industry actors in Hong Kong have been trying to push back against a forthcoming law that would restrict legal cryptocurrency trading to professional investors, locking out 93% of the local population from the market. In comments to the South China Morning Post published on Monday, industry body Global Digital Finance warned that the proposed law would likely push retail traders to embrace unregulated platforms. Global Digital Finance represents cryptocurrency exchanges such as BitMEX, Huobi, Coinbase and OKCoin and has been at the forefront of industry efforts to push back against the forthcoming legislation. Hong Kong's Financial Services and the …