Investors are flocking to the cryptocurrency market such as Bitcoin. The average daily transaction amount is close to 8 trillion won./Photo = Reuters
Investors are flocking to the cryptocurrency market such as Bitcoin. The average daily transaction amount is close to 8 trillion won.
According to data received by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byeong-wook on the 8th from the Financial Services Commission, a total of 445 trillion won was traded at the four major domestic virtual currency exchanges, including Bithumb, Upbit, Kobit, and Coinone, until the 25th of last month. It greatly exceeds the cumulative transaction amount of 36.2 trillion won over the past year.
The daily average transaction amount was 7.9 trillion won, which is 40% of the daily average transaction value of KOSPI (19.800 billion won) on the 1st to 10th of last month. This year, the number of registered members who traded virtual assets at least once was 1.592,000 (including duplicates).
Unlike stocks, derivatives, and online investment-linked finance (P2P), virtual assets remain outside the institutional range. Currently, Korea imposes an obligation to prevent money laundering to’virtual asset business operators’, but it does not recognize virtual currency as a financial product or currency. From next year, income earned from virtual assets such as bitcoin is taxed at a 20% tax rate, but it is classified as other income such as lottery prizes, not financial income.
The law governing virtual currency is the revised Specific Financial Information Act, which will take effect on the 25th. According to this Act, virtual asset business operators must report to the Financial Information Analysis Institute (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission and undergo examination. Transactions with customers through a deposit/withdrawal account that can confirm their real name, and transactions suspected of illegal property should be reported to the FIU. However, it is difficult to say that virtual currency has been institutionalized by itself. This is because the obligation to prevent money laundering is also imposed on casinos and the like.
Danbi Choi, an associate professor at Wonkwang University Law School, said in a thesis’The legal nature of virtual currency and the remedy plan for the rights of users of the exchange’ released in June last year. “The legal nature of virtual currency is still not clearly defined.” In this case, he pointed out that there are no regulations regarding the obligation to compensate for damages or specific protection obligations for investors of virtual asset providers.”
Reporter Lee Mi-kyung, Hankyung.com [email protected]
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