Newly elected South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum appears to be leading an embrace of the cryptocurrency sector among lawmakers, following a public outcry over disdainful comments on cryptos made by the chief of the country’s top finance sector regulator.
Fast Facts:
- Kim said in a television interview this week that virtual assets involved risk, and put regulation on the agenda, saying, “There will definitely be an effort to manage transparency in transactions,” and alluding to Singapore as a potential model for South Korea’s approach to cryptos.
- Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo had said last month that cryptocurrencies were neither financial assets nor currencies, and that there was no need to protect investors, prompting calls for his resignation in a petition that had been signed by more than 194,000 individuals as of press time.
- Two ruling Democratic Party lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at protecting investors in virtual assets, and the opposition People Power Party has formed a task force to look at ways of regulating such investments.