The Korea Blockchain Association has called for the government’s new 20% crypto trading tax plan to be delayed for another two years. According to an Oct. 14 report from News1 Korea, the Korea Blockchain Association, or KBA, is requesting regulators postpone the South Korean government’s implementation of its long awaited new tax strategy until Jan. 1, 2023. The KBA doesn’t explicitly state it is against the 20% tax rate but said that crypto exchanges and companies in the industry need a “reasonable period” to prepare for the Income Tax Act. One of KBA’s reasons for the delay is due to …

Bithumb Global, the international spin-off of the Korean-based cryptocurrency exchange, announced the upcoming launch of Clover, a blockchain platform targeted for decentralized finance and powered by Polkadot (DOT) technology. The company says that Clover will be an open platform for DeFi applications, leveraging cross-chain capabilities and connecting decentralized finance to the centralized exchange. Clover is built on Substrate, Polkadot’s custom blockchain framework. While Substrate does allow for the launch of independent blockchains, Bithumb plans to launch Clover directly as a parachain, the term used to describe Polkadot shards. Clover will feature a native token, called CLV. The token is both …

The South Korean central bank announced on Oct. 7 that it will begin the distribution phase of its central bank digital currency, or CBDC, pilot scheme next year, according to a report by local media outlet The Korea Times. This will see the Bank of Korea test distribution of the digital won in a virtual environment, although a BoK official stressed that there would be no third party involvement at this point, adding: "The CBDC will be issued and circulated in the virtual world and we are going to test a number of transaction scenarios under a variety of circumstances." …

Customers of the world-famous car manufacturer will soon be able to claim blockchain tokens as rewards as part of a new membership scheme, called BMW Vantage. The Korea Times reported on Oct. 7 that BMW Korea is the first branch in BMW Group to run a trial of the new scheme and aims to fully launch it in the country by the end of 2020. It successful, the company is planning a global rollout. The points-based rewards program uses blockchain technology to securely allocate and track tokens for participating customers. First-time buyers of new BMW models could be eligible for …

According to news agency Yonhap, Bithumb will not have to repay a crypto investor who allegedly lost $401,000 as a result of a 2017 data breach suffered by the firm. A High Court judge determined that the man (identified as “Mr. A” for privacy purposes) had failed to successfully prove that his data was compromised during the incident. As a result, the exchange will not be held liable for Mr. A’s lost funds. Mr. A stated that he was holding Korean won (KRW) funds on the exchange and that the data breach had compromised access to his personal information. The …

Samsung SDS will conduct a series of pilot projects in November to test blockchain-powered medicine distribution management. The goal of these tests is to guarantee transparency in the process of tracking pharmaceutical drugs. According to Yankup, the IT branch of Samsung Group announced the pilot programs, named “Disruptive innovation technology for tracking drug distribution history,” at the BioPharma Cold Chain Logistics session in Seoul, South Korea. Officials from Samsung SDS also said that they’ve received “several” participation applications for the pilots from unnamed pharmaceutical firms, distributors, and even medical institutions in South Korea. Lee Eun-young, senior researcher at Samsung SDS, …

With the South Korean government preparing to implement know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance processes, there is confusion among legal experts as to whether the requirements contradict other laws. According to Digital Today, the new requirements would contravene the existing Personal Information Protection Act, which stipulates that local companies cannot legally request social security numbers. The measure also cover financial institutions, however they can request it under exceptional circumstances, such as for major banking transactions. The Enforcement Decree of the Special Payment Act is expected to come into force in March 2021 and will require "virtual asset services providers" …

The South Korean blockchain gaming industry is concerned regulators are looking unfavorably on non-fungible token based games, after the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) postponed an application for the NTF-based Five Stars on September 22. According to iNews24, the watchdog decided to hold off from issuing a rating for Five Stars, a game developed by South Korean tech giant, Kakao. The company is well-known for its recent ventures in the local crypto industry. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are crypto tokens that are each verifiably unique, despite being issued under the same specifications as other tokens of their kind. Local …

The drama over alleged fraud involving Bithumb’s senior executives continues as the company’s chairman has reportedly been summoned for interrogation. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is purportedly seeking to question Lee Jung-hoon, chairman of board at Bithumb Korea and Bithumb Holdings, according to a Sept. 18 report by South Korea’s state-run news agency Yonhap. As reported, Lee is allegedly accused of multiple fraud and embezzlement offenses regarding the failed listing of the BXA token. The purported fraud caused investor damages of up to 30 billion won ($25 million), the report notes. The police are also reportedly looking to question Lee …

A recent report from the Busan Research Institute has revealed a peculiar trend: 62% of firms in the blockchain sandbox city of Busan, South Korea apparently do not know anything about the technology. Since last year, Busan has been considered a "regulation-free" zone for blockchain development by the South Korean federal government. The city has undertaken numerous projects in the blockchain space including plans for a blockchain-based virtual power plant, and even its own municipal cryptocurrency. This makes the underwhelming results of the “Report on Activation of the Busan Blockchain Free Regulatory Zone,” reported by local media outlet Fn News, …

The Blockchain frenzy in South Korea has now reached the housing sector, with the national government pledging $1.27 million in funding for a blockchain-based platform that targets apartment residents across the country. According to ZDNet Korea, the South Korean Ministry of Science, or ICT, chose a local firm, Ksign, to develop a contact-free platform which will let residents engage with electronic voting, parking space management, and other housing-based governance measures. The platform will also aid with social distancing, said the announcement. The project’s creators further noted that they expect it will “strengthen public health in the apartment spaces.” Homeowners, residents, …

South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has been raided by the Seoul Metropolitan Police for the third time this month, according to a report in a local media outlet. During the Sep. 16 raid, police reportedly seized a number of shares in Bithumb Holdings belonging to Bithumb Korea Director Kim Byung-Geon. The seizure action was granted by the Seoul Central District Court on Sep. 14. Kim had been unsuccessfully trying to acquire Bithumb, and had been sued in the process. He had previously filed an application for the seizure of a significant number of shares belonging to Chairman Lee Jung-Hoon, …