South Korea’s national policy committee, part of the country’s National Assembly, has reportedly passed a bill which categorizes cryptocurrencies as digital assets. The move will supposedly pave the way for businesses and sets rules and requirements for their further operation.
According to a report from local media Korea JoongAng Daily, the National Assembly’s national policy committee of South Korea has passed a bill which categorizes cryptocurrencies as digital assets.
Per the Financial Services Commission (FSC), this move is going to help cryptocurrencies become more transparent, while also legitimizing investments in them. Moreover, the policy is expected to help prevent money laundering, set ground rules for financial transactions, and help virtual asset businesses, in general.
This new bill requires all cryptocurrency-related businesses to report to and register with the FSC’s Financial Intelligence Unit. Those who fail to do so won’t be able to get their bank accounts approved. Moreover, failing to comply with the regulations would also result in a penalty.
It’s worth noting that the bill still needs to pass the Judiciary Committee, as well as the main floor of the National Assembly. Should it be approved there, it would go into effect in a year.
According to data from Coinhills, the Korean Won is currently the third most traded fiat currency against Bitcoin and accounts for 2.46% of all bitcoin-to-fiat trades. Not surprisingly, the top most traded currency is the US Dollar, while the Japanese Yen sits comfortably in the number two spot.
Earlier this year, CryptoPotato reported that the overall value of investments made in cryptocurrencies throughout the year before that had increased by 64.2%. With new positive regulatory developments of the kind, it’s possible that this number will increase.
Another interesting thing to note is that the volume traded on the popular peer-to-peer Bitcoin platform LocalBitcoins has almost doubled this week, compared to the one before.
