South Korea to seize digital currencies from tax dodgers in proposed law
To help share the burden of taking care of its aging population, the South Korean government has been hiking taxes for the wealthy and cracking down on money laundering.
To help share the burden of taking care of its aging population, the South Korean government has been hiking taxes for the wealthy and cracking down on money laundering.
Under the Specific Financial Information Act, any exchange operator that continues to operate past the deadline without registering is liable for a five-year jail term.
Subsidiaries of Naver and Kakao are reported to have submitted proposals to run the 10-month blockchain pilot program, which will aim to test the feasibility of a central bank digital currency in a simulation.
The head of the Financial Services Commission said that these exchanges must comply with the revised laws that requires exchanges to establish banking relationships and verify users’ identities.
Prosecutors in Seoul have indicted former chairman of Bithumb Holdings Lee Jung-hoon on fraud charges, while a former partner involved with plans to set up a subsidiary exchange in Thailand is suing Bithumb's HK entities.
New rules being implemented by the Financial Services Commission are reported to be causing significant worries for smaller digital currency exchanges in the country.
Authorities in South Korea have seized KRW53 billion ($47 million) from digital currency holders who have been accused of evading taxes.
The new rules will impact on some 60 unauthorized exchanges in the country, as well as forcing banks to regard digital currency exchanges as “high risk” clients in their dealings with the sector.
In its latest, aside from banning cross trading activities, the Financial Services Commission has ordered the exchanges to store at least 70% of their customer deposits in cold wallets.
Bank of Korea has opened an open bidding process as it seeks to team up with a technology supplier as it attempts to explore the feasibility of digital won.
The South Korean government is out to strengthen its infrastructure to thwart the growing digital currency phishing activities in the country.
Regulators in South Korea have told the country’s banks to disclose details of their dealings with local digital currency firms, in a bid to tighten regulatory control of the sector.