The lobby of South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange operators is making all the possible efforts to ensure the government does not excessively restrict the trading of virtual currencies.

The government last month banned the opening of new virtual accounts for cryptocurrency investors and required virtual currency traders to change their virtual accounts to real-name ones.

“I will focus on persuading the government not to excessively regulate in order to stave off adverse effects on cryptocurrency trading,” Chin Dae-je, chairman of the Korean Blockchain Industry Association, said at an inaugural ceremony. “We will try to develop a sound ecosystem for the cryptocurrency industry.”

Chin expressed concerns about the virtual currency buying spree in the country, adding that his association will establish an information system to let people know about what cryptocurrencies are.

The assotiation is formed by 66 virtual currency exchange operators and blockchain-related firms, and has already declared that they will also come up with self-regulatory measures by the end of June to improve transparency in trading.

Jhun Ha-jin, head of the association’s self-regulation committee, dismissed the move by the government to shut down virtual currency exchanges as a “result of the government’s failure to properly understand the blockchain ecosystem.”

“It is problematic for the government to meddle into the investment activities of individuals,” Jhun said. “Twenty years after the start of the Internet era and the buying spree (of Internet firms), it now has become a major industry of South Korea. I am convinced blockchain will take less time to take a root as a future industry of South Korea.”

Source: yonhapnews.co.kr