South Korean Lawmakers Ask Govt to Ease Crypto, Blockchain Regulation

South Korean Lawmakers Ask Govt to Ease Crypto, Blockchain Regulation

Blockchain Regulation

A group of South Korean lawmakers have reportedly called on the government to ease regulation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

The lawmakers claim the Moon Jae-in administration is pursuing measures that stifle and hamper growth of the nascent industry. They reportedly claim the country’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, has taken a conservative stance toward easing regulation of the sector.

Representative Min Byung-doo of the Democratic Party, in a speech on Friday during the 2019 Deconomy Conference at the National Assembly stated that:

“The government said it would lower regulation barriers, but cryptocurrency and blockchain are not subject (to such a move), which is a contradiction. It is now time to review previous regulations and ease them according to needs.”

Min reportedly pledged to raise the matter of crypto deregulation with president Moon, noting he had been consulting with high-level presidential aides to that end.

Also appearing before the National Assembly, Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin is said to have echoed these bipartisan calls on the government to drop its counter-productive handling of the industry.

Song Hee-kyong a representative of the opposition Liberty Korea Party and co-president of the 4th Industry Forum of the National Assembly has proposed a revision of existing frameworks to provide robust support for the blockchain industry.

The Korea Herald cites details of Song’s comments before the National Assembly, where he reportedly stated:

“Although many customers rely on blockchain for a technological breakthrough, they suffer from lack of systemic support. The government’s vision of promoting the blockchain industry is nothing but talk.”

South Korea banned initial coin offerings (ICOs) in September 2018, claiming that the practice of raising funds through the issuance of cryptocurrency tokens was almost a gamble.

The government has however said it will triple its blockchain budget for 2019 as compared with the previous year, and has to date pursued numerous blockchain initiatives at local and state levels.

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