South Korea continues its immersion in Web3 and the Metaverse. After investing almost $200 million in the creation of its own metaverse ecosystem and publishing the “Metaverse Ethical Principles,” the country’s government is now preparing a “Metaverse Industry Promotion Law.” As reported by local media on Sep. 1, Heo Eun-ah, a member of the National Assembly with an entrepreneurial past, proposed the enactment of the Metaverse Industry Promotion Act to support the Web3 industry. A number of other National Assembly members supported the Eun-ah proposal. According to the bill, the Metaverse Policy Review Committee, subordinate directly to the Prime Minister, …

Authorities with South Korea’s customs service have reportedly arrested 16 people involved in illegal foreign exchange transactions connected to crypto assets worth roughly $2 billion. According to a Tuesday report from South Korean news agency Newsis, the country’s customs authorities plan to prosecute 2 unnamed individuals linked to the illicit transactions, impose fines on 7 people related to negligence, and continue investigating the remaining seven. Since February, the Korea Customs Service’s investigation reportedly discovered more than 2.7 trillion won — roughly $2 billion at the time of publication — tied to transactions with domestic and foreign crypto exchanges. More than …

The court drama behind the acquisition of South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has been going on for several years, but in an unexpected development, a Singapore court has made a ruling against Kim Byung-gun, who has originally accused the owner of Bithumb, Lee Jung-hoon, in defrauding him. According to the South Korean publication Aju Daily, on Aug. 26, after three years of proceedings, a court in Singapore found Kim guilty of selling BXA coins without the permission of his partner Lee and ordered him to return the proceeds gained from the sale of coins to Singapore-based consortium BTHMB. The decision …

South Korea’s second-largest city Busan has announced a partnership with crypto trading platform FTX to build a local crypto exchange and foster blockchain development. Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX will assist in creating the Busan Digital Asset Exchange as per an official statement from the Busan Metropolitan City on Aug. 30. The Bahamian-based firm will also support the city in fostering the growth of the local blockchain industry. Busan City will make use of FTX’s technology and infrastructure to establish its own cryptocurrency exchange. FTX is also set to be involved in promoting blockchain-specific education with local universities and projects within the …

Australia’s financial regulator, Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has pledged to put crypto assets and decentralized finance (DeFi) firmly in its sights over the next four years. The regulator intends to focus on “digitally enabled misconducts” and to protect investors “from harms posed by crypto-assets.” Given the ASIC’s history of anti-crypto sentiments, such an announcement could be perceived as hostile, but at least it contains a promise to implement some regulatory framework that is still absent. And, it is hardly a coincidence that the announcement came only days after Australia’s new ruling government announced plans to move forward with regulation …

The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Monday cleared that virtual asset airdrops, staking rewards and hard forked tokens would be subject to a "gift tax" under the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act despite the postponement of crypto gains tax to 2025. Cryptocurrencies are officially referred to as part of virtual assets under South Korean law. In response to a tax law inquiry about transfers of virtual asset airdrops by crypto exchanges, the South Korean tax authority said that any free virtual asset transfer by crypto exchanges in the form of airdrops, staking rewards and hard-forked tokens would …

The South Korean government has put the lid on a science program that created toilets designed to turn human waste into electricity, heat, and digital currency. The Science Walden project was revealed in July 2021 to the amusement of the crypto community and the wider public alike — introducing the “BeeVi” toilet which turned human excrement into methane gas and rewarded its “depositors” with a digital currency called Ggool. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Science Walden lead, and Professor Cho Jae-weon however revealed that in February this year, further development of the BeeVi toilet and its associated Feces Standard Money (FSM) digital …

Unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges operating in South Korea could see their services grind to a halt as the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) takes action against 16 foreign-based firms. The FIU has notified its investigative authority that 16 virtual asset service providers have been carrying out business without the necessary registrations. Major exchanges, including the likes of KuCoin, Poloniex and Phemex, were listed alongside 13 other exchanges that are set to be hamstrung by the FIU. All 16 exchanges have purportedly engaged in business activities targeting domestic consumers by offering Korean-language websites, running promotional events targeting Korean consumers and providing credit …

A South Korean town near Seoul has been successfully operating a pilot program that allows police to seize crypto from the exchange accounts of individuals with delinquent traffic fines. Gunpo, a city of about 275,000 in the northwestern Gyeonggi province was selected by the national government to execute the pilot program in 2022 which an Aug. 16 report from the JoongBoo Ilbo news outlet stated was a way to collect delinquent funds in an “untact," or contactless fashion. The program appears to have been successful, at least in the first half of 2022, with Gunpo police achieving an 88% collection …

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has reportedly hired a lawyer from a domestic law firm in South Korea just days after claiming the South Korean authorities are yet to reach out to him or file any charges against him. According to a local media report, Kwon recently submitted a letter of appointment to an attorney at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, the department that is currently investigating the Terra-LUNA collapse. While Kwon claims no charges were filed against him, prosecutors in South Korea behind the investigation of Terraform Labs reportedly executed a search and seizure in 15 firms in …

The chair of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said the regulator plans to expedite its review of 13 bills pending in the country’s National Assembly related to digital assets. According to a Thursday report from South Korean news outlet Edaily, Financial Services Commission chair Kim Joo-hyun said a task force consisting of private experts and government ministries will “quickly” review proposed legislation on cryptocurrencies. Kim, addressing the Digital Assets Committee, added that the financial watchdog would “make institutional supplements that will take a balanced approach to blockchain development, investor protection, and market stability." “Even before legislation, we will introduce self-regulation …

Com2uS, the mobile game developer, wants to create its own version of Web3, “where it is free to play and own.” This is according to the company’s president Kyu Lee, who spoke at Korea Blockchain Week 2022 in Seoul, revealing the plan to launch a new blockchain. XPLA, which roughly represents the words explore and play, will be a blockchain network focused on the needs of the company’s gaming community, along with metaverse experiences. For Lee, blockchain was the obvious next step for the company’s presence in the gaming industry: “It was almost a no-brainer, [wouldn’t] you like to play …