South Korea, the country with the third-largest Bitcoin trading volume in the world, has announced the tentative planning of a bill that would ban the trading of cryptocurrency through exchanges.
South Korean Justice Minister Park Sang-Ki said that the proposed ban has come because of “great concerns regarding virtual currencies.” Near the end of 2017, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said that the trading of BTC had become a “serious pathological phenomenon” in his country.
Accordingly, Bitcoin has entered into a free-fall. At the time of press, Bitcoin was trading for around $13,350, down from the valuation of roughly $15,000 preceding the revelation of the proposed bans.
In addition to the announcement of the bans, South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges reportedly got a nasty surprise recently when police and tax officials reportedly raided their offices. An official at South Korean exchange Coinone said that in addition to the raids, “local police also have been investigating our company since last year. They think what we do is gambling.”
A Long, Slow Tightening
This most recently proposed bill is the latest step in a series of South Korean cryptocurrency regulations. In September, the South Korean government banned ICOs; on December 12, the Financial Services Commission of Korea banned Bitcoin futures trading.
Later in December, a ban was placed on anonymous cryptocurrency trading accounts, a measure that was intended to reduce the use of crypto for illicit purposes and instances of minors trading on crypto exchanges. Additionally, the measure will theoretically make it easier for the South Korean government to tax gains made through cryptocurrency.
The Future of BTC?
The last time that the country with one of the largest BTC trading volumes in the world enacted a similar ban (when outlawed domestic cryptocurrency exchanges in September of 2017), Bitcoin tanked.
However, Bitcoin then went on to rise higher and more quickly than even some of the more bold analysts could have predicted, reaching to just under $20,000 before the end of 2018 (preceding market corrections). If the past is any indication of the future, we might just be able to ride this one out.
TheBitcoinNews.com – Bitcoin News source since June 2011 –
Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. TheBitcoinNews.com holds several Cryptocurrencies, and this information does NOT constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.
Everything on this website can be seen as Advertisment and most comes from Press Releases, TheBitcoinNews.com is is not responsible for any of the content of or from external sites and feeds. Sponsored posts are always flagged as this, guest posts, guest articles and PRs are most time but NOT always flagged as this. Expert opinions and Price predictions are not supported by us and comes up from 3th part websites.
Advertise with us : Advertise
Our Social Networks: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Reddit Telegram Twitter Youtube
