Amid the growing opposition to the new cryptocurrency tax regime in South Korea, finance minister Hong Nam-ki confirmed that the government will begin taxing capital gains from crypto trading starting next year. “It’s inevitable, we will need to impose taxes on gains from trading of virtual assets,” the minister said when asked whether the tax should be delayed until the state has proper industry oversight in place, Reuters reported Tuesday. Hong emphasized that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) will be taxed as “intangible assets,” noting that it was a “misunderstanding” to view them as currencies. The minister also warned that crypto …

Korean Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo has ordered FSC officials who hold crypto to file reports on their investments by May 7. The FSC employees subject to reporting are those who manage virtual currency tech developments, those responsible for drafting and applying digital currency laws and those who report on and manage crypto exchanges. An article from the Korea Times notes the comparative lack of regulation surrounding FSC officials’ investments in crypto when compared with traditional financial products. While FSC employees are expected to notify Chairman Sung-soo if they have speculated on crypto and are prohibited from making investments …

Kim Boo-kyum, who was recently nominated as prime minister by South Korea’s President, Moon Jae-in, has said he will look into the country’s crypto tax law. According to a report by KBS World, the prime minister nominee is keen to ensure that there are no victims of the crypto tax law coming into effect in January 2022. Kim’s comments come amid growing opposition to the incoming crypto tax regime. Tensions were further stoked after Eun Sung-soo, chairman of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, argued that cryptocurrencies did not have any intrinsic value. Eun’s comments, a common refrain among crypto critics, …

Ethereum software company ConsenSys has formed a technical partnership with Kakao’s Klaytn blockchain, with a goal to develop a private platform for the issuance of a South Korean central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Klaytn is a public blockchain developed by Ground X, a blockchain affiliate of the South Korean internet company Kakao. Best known for its Kakao Talk mobile messaging app, Kakao has since branched out into the shopping and travel industries, among others. In 2019, the company commenced work on the Klaytn blockchain, which by the time of publication has the 25th-largest market capitalization in the cryptocurrency space. …

The virtual 7th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum was jointly hosted by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network with the theme “Enabling Resilience for All: The Critical Decade to Scale-up Action.” The forum took place in March and was held to formulate national adaptation planning for science and technology, and energy and fiscal policies that consider the interlinkages between climate change, health and biodiversity. These nature- and ecosystem-based policies will serve as the basis for the Asia-Pacific region’s contributions to the Leaders Summit on Climate in the United States; the United Nations Biodiversity …

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) fell by 15% and 20%, respectively, on April 23 as the cryptocurrency market became engulfed in a major correction. Five factors likely caused the price of Bitcoin and Ether to steeply drop in a single day, including mass liquidation, an overheated futures market, the decline of Kimchi premium, whales selling and concerns over United States President Joe Biden's tax plans. Overcrowded futures market sees $4 billion worth of liquidations On April 23, in a 24-hour span, the cryptocurrency market saw over $4 billion worth of positions liquidated. According to Bybt a data …

The city government of South Korea’s capital Seoul has announced the seizure of cryptocurrencies worth 25 billion won ($22 million) from individuals and company heads. According to a report by The Korea Times, the confiscated crypto came from people identified as tax delinquents by the city’s tax collection agency. As part of the investigation, the Seoul office of the National Tax Service identified 1,566 individuals and company heads with overdue taxes. The NTS office in Seoul then proceeded to seize $22 million in digital currencies held by 676 of them on three crypto exchanges. With mandatory real-name crypto trading in …

Several South Korean financial authorities are planning to join forces to combat illegal operations involving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The interagency crackdown comes in response to growing concerns over speculative investments and potentially illegal activities amid the ongoing boom in crypto markets, Koo Yun-cheol, head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said Monday. “There is a need to pay special attention to the occurrence of illegal activities using virtual assets,” he stated at a vice ministers’ meeting on crypto, according to local news agency Yonhap. As part of the crackdown, which is slated to continue until June, the Financial …

The crypto markets in South Korea have long stood out from the rest of the world, and a lot of this has to do with the “Kimchi premium,” which often causes Bitcoin (BTC) to trade on local exchanges at much higher prices than what’s seen elsewhere. Now, one cutting-edge platform is aiming to capitalize on the fervent interest for digital assets in the country, with an ambitious expansion of its services that sit at the crossroads between cryptocurrencies and gaming. GamerHash says it has already amassed more than 570,000 users in three years and is now planning to make inroads …

Shinhan Bank, South Korea’s largest financial institution by total assets, has joined the governance council overseeing the Hedera network. In an April 14 announcement, Shinhan announced it had become the latest member of the Hedera Governing Council to expand its efforts in the field of “digital transformation.” Hedera touts its hashgraph as an enterprise-grade blockchain platform capable of processing thousands of transactions per second. Shinhan representatives emphasized growing client demand for enhanced efficiency and security in financial services, stating: “Hedera's public distributed ledger in particular is uniquely suited to meet the needs of a widely-used fintech service that must be …

South Korea’s “big four” crypto exchanges — Bithumb, Korbit, Upbit and Coinone — are showing a marked cooling off in Bitcoin (BTC) enthusiasm. Meanwhile, altcoins are now accounting for the highest 24-hour trading volume according to data from multiple market aggregators. Apart from XRP, which is often popular among crypto traders in Asia, altcoins with smaller market capitalizations are leading the way in terms of trading volume on the big four. Data from crypto research outfit Messari shows Ravencoin (RVN), Near Protocol (NEAR) and New Kind of Network (NKN) as the three top-traded cryptos by volume on the Upbit exchange. …

The effects of South Korea’s crypto frenzy seem to be spreading beyond the cryptocurrency market to affect stock prices in the country’s stock exchange. According to a report by Bloomberg on Wednesday, Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. has seen its stock price almost triple since the start of the year. Indeed, at the time of writing, Hanwha Investment is trading at 6,550 Korean won per share, which constitutes a 197% stock price gain year-to-date. This almost-200% share price increase puts Hanwha Investment as the best performing of the companies in the Korea Composite Stock Price Index. Hanwha Investment’s bullish share …