Similar to every other regulator across the globe, South Korean regulators decided to mandate the need for a license. Bybit, a prominent crypto exchange decided to steer away from the region just while the final date to apply for a license was looming.
The cryptocurrency industry witnessed massive growth over the last couple of years. The drastic change from its nascent to its current stage had left the whole world in awe. Financial regulators, however, feared that cryptocurrencies could hamper the existing dynamics of the monetary world. This further pushed regulators into heavily scrutinizing the crypto market and exchanges seemed to be highly impacted by this.
The regulatory environment in South Korea has been hazardous for the last couple of days. With new regulations in place, over 60 crypto platforms were urged to alert their customers of either a full or partial suspension on trading. Exchanges operating in South Korea were obligated to register with the Financial Intelligence Unit by 24 September.
With this deadline just days away, Bybit decided to discontinue a few of its services in the region. These services were deemed important for the exchange to survive in the country.
Bybit to halt two major services in South Korea
In a recent announcement, Bybit stated that it would discontinue two services including its support for the Korean language on all its platforms and the official Korean community on social media. Both these features would be shown suspended from 20 September 2021.
Almost every exchange believes that regulations are needed in the crypto-verse. Bybit went on to address the same and asserted the reason behind its latest decision. The exchange stated,
“Bybit believes that regulations are necessary for the democratization of cryptocurrency. Bybit accepts its responsibility as an exchange and an industry leader in actively cooperating with regulations implemented by various jurisdictions to promote financial inclusion and develop the overall crypto industry.”
Additionally, the exchange noted that all other services would function as usual. However, Bybit also affirmed that it supported no Korean won markets as the exchange had no trading pairs that entailed the Korean won.
With Korea’s big crypto takedown underway, only a few exchanges like Upbit, Coinone, Bithumb, and Korbit have reportedly been allowed to function as they have fully complied with the local regulations.