South Korea is pondering over implementing an approval system built in similar lines as that of New York’s BitLicense system as per the reports of BusinessKorea. However, the popular daily added that chances of any final decision being taken before the elections of June 2018 is extremely bleak. A government official spoke with the news body and revealed that:

“We are positively considering the adoption of an exchange approval system as the additional regulation on cryptocurrencies. We are most likely [to] benchmark the model [against that] of the State of New York that gives a selective permission.”

The BitLicense warrant, which has been functional since August 2015 is issued by New York State Department of Financial Services approving the operation of virtual currency exchanges. A similar exchange license program is also present in Japan where the licenses for cryptocurrency exchanges are approved by its Financial Services Agency (FSA) after verifying if they have met the stringent requirements ranging from computer systems to customer accounts.

Also Read: Japan Issues License to Eleven Bitcoin Exchanges

BusinessKorea feels that the consideration of a South Korean exchange approval system coincides with the time when the local markets are becoming less “overheated.” The publication has also reported that the government is viewing the recently stabilised cryptocurrency market as a cooling off of its speculative trends when compared to the extreme volatility in December and January.

Another anonymous government official added that:

“Some even say that the government should impose taxes instead of putting additional regulations if the market volatility remains same at the current level. We will hold a meeting to respond to [the] national petition related to digital currencies this month but we are highly likely to make up for the defects of existing measures only at the meeting.”

The petition referred to by the official has already received more than 200000 signatures from the residents of South Korea. Believed to lessen regulation on cryptocurrencies, this petition is now strongly demanding quick government response. A misinterpreted rumour indicating at a complete cryptocurrency ban by South Korean officials caused the country to hog limelight’s in crypto sphere recently. This also brought about a sharp fall in the prices of these digital tokens during the beginning of 2018. South Korean exchanges were removed by industry website CoinMarketCap from its listing in early January given its “extreme divergence in prices” compared to the rest of the crypto markets worldwide.

Also Read: South Korean Finance Mininster Confirms It Will Not Ban Cryptocurrencies

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Tarunima Ghosh Laha Tarunima Ghosh Laha is a Finance Post Grad from St. Xaviers who believes Finance is more than just Balance Sheets and Ledger creation. This filmy bookworm who believes she was a sloth in past life also nourishes a penchant of owning a private zoo someday. Equipped with a laptop and online Lexicon she is all set to give finance a glamorous makeover in the form of exciting writeups with bang on info and flashy new words.