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| The National Policy Committee approves a crypto regulation bill at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
Bipartisan support for bill formed amid lawmaker's coin scandal
By Anna J. Park
Amid a growing scandal surrounding a main opposition lawmaker's coin speculation, the Assembly's National Policy Committee greenlighted a cryptocurrency regulation bill on Thursday. It was the first time ever that a bill stipulating regulations on cryptocurrency was passed by a National Assembly committee.
As the bill cleared the first hurdle toward being written into law, it is expected that the bill could pass the National Assembly's plenary session as early as May 25, after the Legislation and Judiciary Committee gives a thorough review.
The bill is aimed at protecting digital asset investors, preventing unfair trading of cryptocurrencies and establishing a stable coin trading framework. The bill integrated 19 similar cryptocurrency-related bills submitted to the Assembly. The bill also grants supervisory authority over cryptocurrencies to the Financial Services Commission, the country's top financial regulator. Another cryptocurrency bill that focuses more on the details of initial coin offerings, public disclosures and market regulations is still being discussed at the committee level.
"Digital assets have finally entered into the boundaries of law. Prior to drawing up another more fundamental law on cryptocurrency, this bill passed the committee first, as protection of cryptocurrency investors and establishment of unfair trade practices take priority over any regulations on cryptocurrencies," said Rep. Back Hye-ryun, the chair of the National Policy Committee and a member of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
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| Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Nam-kuk walks into his office at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
The Assembly's rare and quick bipartisan support for the cryptocurrency bill is ascribed to a scandal surrounding Rep. Kim Nam-kuk. The first-term lawmaker of the DPK is mired in a snowballing scandal over his speculative moves in coin investing.
He allegedly held over 1 million Wemix, a token of gaming company Wemade, worth 8.7 billion won ($6.5 million) to 10 billion won as of early this year. Kim also allegedly purchased a sizable amount of BitTorrent Tokens (BTTs) and KLAY, among other coins.
The lawmaker contended on Friday that there's no problem at all regarding the allegations.
"There's no money that came from nowhere. When I disclose, everything will be transparent," Kim told reporters at the National Assembly, Friday.
Meanwhile, both parties are working on a bill that forces the disclosure of lawmakers' and public officials' cryptocurrency assets. While the U.S. and EU already made their own such laws in 2018 and 2020, respectively, Korean public officials and lawmakers still do not bear such responsibility.
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