Share this article
South Korea Won't Ban Crypto Trading, Says Minister
South Korea does not intend to "ban or suppress" cryptocurrency trading, the country's finance minister said today.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:30 a.m. Published Jan 31, 2018, 9:20 a.m.
South Korea does not intend to ban cryptocurrency trading, the country's finance minister has said.
In response to a question from a lawmaker on the government's plans for regulation of the industry, Kim Dong-yeon said, "there is no intention to ban or suppress cryptocurrency [market]," as reported by Reuters today.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Rather than follow China's lead and take the drastic step of closing down domestic exchanges, the minister added:
"Regulating exchanges is [the government]'s immediate task."
Kim's comments come after the country has moved to increase scrutiny of cryptocurrency trading, to calm what it considers an overheated market.
Yesterday saw the introduction of new rules preventing the use of anonymous virtual accounts for trading, meaning individuals must use real names on bank and exchange accounts. Further, authorities said people not complying with the change face penalties.
Amid the government's moves to quell the market, statements from some officials had indicated that the country might be planning to ban cryptocurrency exchanges altogether – news that was linked to a sudden drop in the prices of many cryptocurrencies. South Korea is one the the world's biggest markets for trading bitcoin and other digital currencies.
However, officials soon started to move to calm the markets, and South Korea's presidential office said on Jan. 11 that a plan to ban trading cryptocurrencies "is one of the measures prepared by the Ministry of Justice, but it's not a measure that has been finalized."
Bitcoin and Korean won image via Shutterstock
Más para ti
Lo que debes saber:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
Más para ti
Coinbase Sees Crypto Recovery Ahead as Liquidity Improves and Fed Rate Cut Odds Climb
The crypto exchange also took note of a so-called AI bubble that continues to go strong and a weaker U.S. dollar.
Lo que debes saber:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
- Several recent institutional developments, including Vanguard's crypto ETF policy reversal and Bank of America's greenlighting of crypto allocations, have contributed to bitcoin's rebound from recent lows.
Top Stories
