South Korea's crypto bill makes headway as legislators approve the first review

First introduced in June 2022, the crypto bill in South Korea is expected to include various regulations for the crypto industry in the country

  • Published:
  • 28/04/2023 10:28 AM

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The crypto industry in South Korea is expected to benefit from an upcoming crypto bill, which passed its first phase of review in the National Assembly. The crypto bill would empower the Financial Services Commission to regulate the crypto industry and be the reporting authority for all crypto firms.


Activities like halting user withdrawals would have to be reported to the Financial Services Commission once the bill is enacted into law.

Defining virtual assets as an “electronic representation of an economic value that can be traded or transferred electronically,” the crypto bill does not include central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and other products and services under South Korea’s central bank, The Bank of Korea.


The crypto bill would also induce fines and strict punishment for failure to disclose information in investor disclosures. Promoting crypto assets falsely and manipulating prices also come under the purview of the punishments. A prison time of five years would be applicable for crimes and fraud worth 5 billion Korean won.

The crypto bill also comes as a positive development for the crypto industry, which reeled under several cases of bankruptcies and frauds in 2022 for various reasons. Proper implementation of the crypto bill would enable companies and other stakeholders of the crypto industry to operate in a secure manner.

Since it has passed the first phase of review in the National Assembly, the crypto bill now awaits a few stages of approval in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Assembly’s plenary session.

Hwang Suk-jin, a member of the Digital Asset Special Committee of the Ruling People Power Party, expressed optimism about the crypto bill becoming law within a year since both the opposition and ruling parties of South Korea are in agreement over it.

He has been actively involved in the development of the bill. He also expressed hope that the crypto bill would be able to prevent unfair trade acts actively.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash