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South Korea To Levy 20% Tax On BTC

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South Korea has been emerging as a global leader with its pop culture. The country decided to jump on the crypto bandwagon by recognizing these digital assets. South Korea has time and again revealed its intention of taxing cryptocurrencies, now the government has announced a date that it would start taxing these assets.

While this law is soon to be implemented, a prominent member of the country’s central bank has exhibited angst about the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies.

South Korea To Tax Profits Acquired By Crypto in 2022

The price movement of Bitcoin in the past few days has certainly spruced up the adoption of crypto. While some governments are outrightly banning these assets, a few others seem to be reaping benefits by taxing them. South Korea joined the list of an array of countries that have levied a tax on crypto.

In a recent report by the Korean Herald, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the country reportedly proclaimed that a 20% tax would be levied on the profits acquired by trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. This would commence from 1 January 2022. However, those individuals who make profits lesser than $2,300 or 2.5 million won are exempted from this rule.

While this law helped recoginze Bitcoin as a part of the financial structure, 20% was a bit too much several officals believed. A police officer reportedly said,

“I sold stocks I was holding recently and started to invest in (digital) coins after seeing my colleague made a lot of money from them. I think it’s unfair to charge that much (cryptocurrency) tax when compared to taxes on stocks”

Furthermore, the government had expressed interest in going on board with tax rule in 2020, however, it seems to have been pushed to 2021.

Additionally, as these crypto-assets recorded a massive slump,  Lee Ju-yeo the Governor of the Bank of Korea. Once again, another authority has commented on the highly volatile nature of Bitcoin,

Binance Preps To Latch The Doors Of Its Korean Branch

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2020 is probably the worst year in history. Yet, some crypto platforms like Binance managed to thrive despite the setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The exchange was seen diving into several new markets this year while keeping up with the developments pertaining to the platform. Bitcoin’s price movement has got every crypto platform busy at the moment, however, some platforms seem to be going out of business despite the ongoing bull run. One of Binance’s branch was seen undergoing the same.

Binance Korea To Close Shop Following Low Trading Volume

Binance makes sure to maintain its name in the headlines. The exchange is touted as the world’s largest crypto platform and hasn’t slipped down from its post. However, this time the exchange has made the headlines announcing the closure of a branch. In a recent blog post, the exchange alerted its users that it was going to pull the plug on Binance Korea.

The blog post revealed that BKRW charge up as well new registrations at the Korean wing of the exchange was put on hold on 24 December 2020. The trading services is scheduled to stop on 10 January 2021 post 1:00 PM KST. On 29 January 2021, a hard shutdown along with the delisting of BKRW/BUSD Liquid Swap and BKRW trading pairs would take place. Following this, the accounts of Binance KR users would be inaccessible.

The blog post read,

“Binance KR will terminate the local exchange operations due to low usage and volume with limited trading pairs of BKRW, resulting in limited liquidity for its users. Following the closure of the exchange, the Binance KR team will reassess its market strategy based on the resources and experience gained from operating a local exchange.”

It seems like the interest of South Koreans in crypto isn’t very high. The crypto platform’s decision to pull the plug on its branches during the bull run due to low trading volume stands as substantial proof of the aforementioned statement. As the world was recovering from the pandemic, South Koreans seem to be highly affected by the virus right now.

South Korean Exchange Coinbit Execs Find Themselves Behind Bars Following Market Manipulation Allegations

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Market manipulation has become a common phrase in the world of crypto. South Koreans are the latest to be affected by the massacres of market manipulation. The South Korean authorities, however, aren’t far behind as they took down a prominent exchange that engaged in market manipulation over the last year.

South Korean Authorities Shut Down Market Manipulating Crypto Exchange

The popularity of the crypto-verse has grown by a huge majority and the value of its market follows suit. Scammers and hackers across the globe view this as a major point of attraction and dive into the industry to pocket some easy money. Regulators and law enforcement have been working towards busting crime pertaining to the crypto-verse. A recent incident in South Korea is a clear example of the same.

A local news portal reported that the Seoul police had taken down, Coinbit, a cryptocurrency exchange that formulated a market manipulation scheme. The Chairman, Choi Moi along with two other executives of the exchange were nabbed by the police for dwelling into market manipulation over the course of several months. The news portal reported that the executives had bagged over 100 billion won by buying and selling the crypto asset around the same time. This action was called wash trading and about 99% of the crypto exchange’s activities were executed through wash trading.

The Coinbit officials had even set up a ghost account to meddle with the prices of the assets and accelerate the volume of the transactions. This took place from August 2019 all the way up to May 2020.

The South Korean police took this exchange down on 26 August 2020. The Coinbit had an office in Gangnam-gu where the police searched and sealed the place following the information about the scam that the execs of the exchange were running. The prosecutors of South Korea have reportedly been gearing up for a case against the men behind the Coinbit market manipulation.

South Korea Pushes Crypto Tax Rule To 2022

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As the value of the crypto industry has been going on an uphill journey, regulating these assets has become just as important. South Korea’s government seems to be taking the essential measures to do so. While the South Korean government revealed that it was all about regulating crypto, a recent delay on regulations pertaining to the digital assets was imposed.

South Korea To Enforce Crypto Tax Rule In January of 2022

While the crypto industry upholds privacy and anonymity, several seemed to have taken advantage of it and even went on to engage in tax evasion. Keeping this in mind, the South Korean government decided to spruce things up a bit. Back in June, the South Korean authorities part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance put forth the idea of taxing the profits garnered via crypto assets. This further received a thumbs up in July and a 20% tax on crypto profits was to be implemented by October 2021.

However, as per a recent report by a local South Korean news agency, the 20% tax on crypto gains was shifted to January 2022. In a recent meeting preceded by the South Korean National Assembly, the government decided to give the 20% tax on gains acquired via crypto trading a green signal. South Koreans that engage in crypto trading activities that go beyond $2,000 would reportedly be taxed by 20%. In a recent amendment proposed last week, a delay was urged to the law that was coming into force in October 2021. The local crypto platforms reportedly suggested that they lacked the time to formulate a precise tax reporting foundation.

The South Korean government seemed to have approved this request and pushed the crypto tax rule to 1 January 2022 from October 2021. This is said to give the local crypto platforms a three-month window to put into place a credible tax reporting base.

South Korea has been time and again proving that it was more than just its pop culture. The country has been sifting through the crypto-verse and seems to have garnered an increased adoption across the region.

Pandemic Forces Bithumb To Pull The Plug On Few Of Its Offices

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The pandemic had caused abject disruption around the world. The coronavirus put the entire world in shackles. While the economy staggered and several lost their jobs, COVID-19 was taking over the world. Several prominent platforms pulled the plug to depreciate the spread of the virus, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange seemed to be aiding this move and has planned to put a hold on its services.

Pandemic Staggers Growth Of Several Platforms

A small yet deadly virus caused the death of many across the globe. While mankind remained indoors, the streets of the earth were ghosted. Several markets went on to record major slumps and have been trying to recover from their losses. The crypto-verse, however, seems to have picked up its recovery phase as it has been reaching new highs. Even though the recovery rate of COVID-19 has surged, the cases seemed to have decreased. Yet, certain platforms continue to go the extra mile to remain unfettered by the pandemic. South Korea’s Bithumb is the latest crypto platform to do so.

South Korea has been known for its impeccable pop culture. With South Korean movies, shows as well as music taking over the world, the country has been working on exercising soft power through the same. The country’s interest in crypto is also highly touted. In light of the ongoing pandemic, Bithumb revealed that it would shut down a few of its offices.

In a blog post, Bithumb wrote that it would be momentarily suspending its Gangnam center that acted as an offline support platform to its users. The blog post read,

“As the number of domestic confirmed cases of Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 (hereinafter referred to as Corona 19) has increased and social distancing in the metropolitan area has been upgraded to stage 2, we intend to temporarily suspend the operation of Bithumb offline Gangnam Center to prevent the spread of Corona 19.”

The platform mentioned that it would suspend its service from 24 November 2020 until further notice. A safer and convenient option in replacement of the offline platform would soon be rolled out.

While several countries have been easing the laws that were put in place during the peak of the virus, South Korea seems to be prolonging the same. As per worldometer, a covid-19 tracking website, the total number of cases were at 31,353 with over 510 deaths. The number of recovered individuals stood at 26,722. Additionally, the daily new cases in the country were seen increasing significantly.

Pandemic

South Korea Forbids Exchanges To Facilitate Trade Of Privacy Coins

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South Korea has been engulfing the entire globe through its cultural soft power. BTS and Korean drama has never been so popular. Along with this cultural takeover of the globe, the country is spearheading the adoption of crypto. South Korea recently legalized crypto in the country by passing a bill to regulate digital assets. However, the latest news from the Asian country suggested a ban on privacy coins.

South Korea To Dodge Abject Money Laundering Risk

Just a year ago, privacy coins had become a big no go for certain regulators. The Financial Action Task Force’s [FATF] Travel Rule was a huge setback for privacy coins like Monero [XMR], Zcash [ZEC] as well as Dash [DASH]. South Korea seems to be on board with this rule as the country decided to put a ban on privacy coins.

As per a recent announcement, the South Korean Financial Services Commission [FSC] revealed on its website that it was going to restrain digital asset providers from engaging with cryptocurrencies that pose a great risk of money laundering. This rule comes as part of the country’s Special Payment Act. Certain rules were put into place by South Korea earlier this year, however, these rules will only be effective since March 2021.

This isn’t the first time privacy coins have been banned in a country over money laundering issues. Japan also laid a ban on these assets. The South Korean regulator also went on to label privacy coins as “dark coin”. Since the information pertaining to the transaction of privacy coins is kept “private” the government would find it difficult to track down or trace the transaction of crypto assets.

While several exchanges have taken a step ahead and delisted privacy coins, the FSC suggested that anti-money laundering as well as ‘Know Your Customer’ policies should be mandated in every crypto platform operating in the country.

China Takes A Leap In Development Of CBDC; Shenzhen Rolls Out 10M Digital Yuan Public Giveaway Program

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China’s interest in the development of the Central Bank Digital Currency [CBDC] is witnessed through the progress the country is making in the same. Fearing China’s global take over with regard to financial technology, other countries have stepped up their game and have been probing the prospects of CBDC. However, the latest news from China suggests that the digital yuan would soon be out and about.

Public Giveaway To Endorse The Digital Yuan

Not long ago, China revealed that its CBDC the digital yuan was out for testing in various sectors. The Shenzhen city of China seems to be taking things up a notch by rolling out a pilot program that includes the distribution of the digital yuan. A news portal revealed that the Chinese city had joined forces with the central bank of China in order to organize a public giveaway.

Funded by the Luohu District of Shenzhen, a total of 10 million digital yuan which is worth about  $1.5 million will reportedly be distributed among the residents of the city. The giveaway will include a total of 50,000 individuals and the aforementioned amount would be allocated via a lottery. The intention behind carrying out such a task is to allow the citizens to spend the digital yuan, which is part of the testing program.

An online platform was set up for the giveaway where individuals could register and apply to be a part of the program. The giveaway was scheduled for 9 October 2020 and the winners could commence putting their digital yuan to use from 12 October to 18 October. While the spending of the acquired digital yuan is limited to the Luohu area, about 3,389 shops are reportedly willing to accept the digital RMB.

If the winners of the giveaway restrain from spending the received amount post 16 October, the bank would reportedly take it back.

As China makes headway in the development of its CBDC, other countries are still in the probing stage. Japan recently revealed that it was not looking to launch a CBDC any time soon and would engage in intensive research about the same. South Korea, however, has been trying to catch up with China. The country seeking the attention of the world through its pop culture has also begun the distribution stage of the digital won.

South Korean Authorities Raid Bithumb for Alleged Fraud Over BXA Token

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Bithumb, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, has reportedly been raided by Seoul police in connection with suspected investment fraud related to the issuance of a BXA token.

According to the reports by Seoul Shinmun, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit officers conducted search and seizure investigations at the exchange’s headquarters in the Gangnam District on 2nd September.

This was linked to a $25 million token sale hosted by Bithumb and to the proposed acquisition of the Singapore Platform, BTHMB. But the deal that was originally expected to be completed in February never materialized. Bithumb   Chairman Lee Jung Hoon is also known to have been in police investigation on charges of fraud and escaping property.

The exchange was accused of pre-selling native BXA tokens, but the failure to list caused substantial losses worth millions to investors who participated in the sale.

This news follows the seizure of the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country, Coinbit, on allegations of fake trading volumes, a major concern that has haunted the industry for quite some time.

The original reports claimed that the platform’s owner Choi Mo and other executives allegedly used ghost accounts to execute fake trades to artificially inflate the trading volume. The local authorities alleged that the wash trading at the platform had produced more than $84 million in faked income.

In a bid to provide a framework for the regulation and legalization of cryptocurrencies as well as crypto-exchanges, South Korea became the world’s first country to pass a comprehensive set of cryptocurrency rules in March this year

While this has been a recent development, the country has been known to be at the forefront of the cryptocurrency and blockchain movement over the past decade. Two years earlier, Seoul’s mayor, Park Won-soon even discussed the capital city’s plans to launch what was dubbed the S-coin for the purpose of a payment method for city-funded welfare programs.

Hashed Announces Investment in DeFi Protocol bZx

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Hashed, which is one of the largest cryptocurrency investment firms in South Korea, officially announced its investment in bZx through the private round before the token release this July.

Among its other investments such as Handshake, QuarkChain, and Oasis Labs, the firm had previously led a $1 million Pre-A Investment round with Dapp.com, the data analytics platform for decentralized app products built on blockchains.

Sharing the thesis behind the latest investment, the South Korean blockchain VC firm referred to bZx’s  exploit that took place during the ETH Denver hackathon and stated,

“Those who failed and resiliently stood back up can accomplish growth much faster through their lessons learned. Just like we supported bZx, Hashed will also continue to support talented founders who stay resilient from failures and strive to win numerous challenges in the blockchain ecosystem.”

bZx, which is a set of smart contracts built on top of the Ethereum network, focuses on lending and margin trading. Months after launching site whitepaper in February 2018, it secured $7.8 million in their Initial Coin Offering [ICO] of BZRX tokens.

In February 2020, two hackers used flash loans to attack the protocol, first in a $350,000 attack and later in a $600,000 attack.

Despite this, Hashed believed that the bZx team has done everything in its power to fulfill its responsibility as a DeFi protocol. It further added,

“When bZx struggled through the aftermath of the attack, Hashed supported the team along the process. Indeed, we could actually witness how this team solved the unprecedented DeFi incident. We believe the team showed integrity”

However, not all were optimistic about the whole fiasco. For one, Robert Leshner, the Founder of the rival DeFi lending protocol Compound, had previously lashed out and said that the platform “isn’t capable of protecting user funds” and should “immediately cease operations until it can be thoroughly and completely audited”.

As a result of two back to back attacks, the total value locked [USD] in the protocol dropped from $19.447 million to $7.692 million in a period of just two weeks. Since then, the figures have shown almost no signs of recovery. At the time of writing, TVL locked in bZx was just $646.461K.

South Korean NGO Developing Digital Healthcare Platform on Blockchain

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South Korean non-governmental organization, the Commons Foundation, has announced its project to develop a digital health platform on the blockchain to combat pandemics following the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Digital Today report, the NGO will use blockchain public services to develop an epidemiological research system that matches the upcoming post coronavirus age.

Digital healthcare platform to use a public blockchain

Notably, the report cites the concerns expressed by the chairman of the Commons Foundation, Choi Yong-gwan, about the infringement of personal information as a result of the emergency COVID-19. This has led the South Korean NGO to develop a digital solution to the situation. As per Choi, a blockchain-based digital healthcare platform will help prevent future pandemics from having such an effect in South Korea.

According to the Commons Foundation, a public blockchain called MicroBitcoin will be used to set up a research system. The NGO noted that the robustness, security and state-of-the-art technology of MicroBitcoin were the primary considerations to prevent hackers from compromising the digital health platform.

In particular, the healthcare system will encrypt all personal data on the public distributed ledger platform in order to avoid forgery and to boost the authenticity of the data. As per the NGO, the system will provide a private key through cell phone verification and record the motions of users in the city on the blockchain-based platform.

Monitoring confirmed coronavirus cases through blockchain technology

If individual Y is confirmed to have contracted coronavirus, they can directly feed their encryption key value on the blockchain-based healthcare system and provide information that cannot be altered to an epidemiologist. Research experts can afterward plan to visit person Y and ascertain a better method to ensure a fast examination is carried out. Choi stated:
“It is important to quickly overcome the pandemic, but it will become more important in the post-corona era to protect the individual’s freedom and human rights while wisely overcoming the pandemic.”

Furthermore, Korea’s second major city, Busan, recently developed an identification system on a public blockchain to authenticate citizen information. Moreover, Korea’s Suseong University partnered with the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association, or KORAIA, to develop an AI blockchain-based campus in Daegu