South Korea decided to get rid of cryptocurrencies. The government has drafted a bill that totally bans trading virtual money on the national exchanges. “The South Korean Ministry of Justice is considering the closure of cryptocurrency trading to bring cryptocurrency mania and speculation under control for investor protection,” justice minister Park Sang-ki said.
According to local authorities, the digital money rush looks more like gambling, and crypto coins should be called crypto chips as they are backed by nothing. However, the government has a reason for concern. The Asians are quite venturesome, so gaming parlors are prohibited in South Korea. Most Koreans treat cryptocurrency trading as gambling. The first set of restrictions bans using anonymous cryptocurrency accounts and forbids banks to provide services for conducting anonymous deals with digital money. The South Korean market accounts for about 20-25% of the global cryptocurrency market which is a rather significant share. This is why the government’s decision triggered a 14% fall in the bitcoin exchange rate.
