Ban on Initial Coin Offering Expected to Be Lifted
The new government of South Korea is expected to pursue deregulation in the virtual asset industry.
At present, the South Korean government’s virtual asset-related policies include a 20 percent income tax on an annual profit of more than 2.5 million won, which is scheduled to take effect in January next year. Many investors are complaining about it in that the tax exemption threshold in the stock market is 50 million won. President-elect Yoon Seok-youl promised at a press conference in January to apply the same threshold to cryptocurrency investors.
His campaign pledges also include non-prohibition of initial coin offering and more measures for investor protection. “Initial coin offering does not have to be forbidden, and its side effects can be prevented by a new act on digital assets,” he said.
The new act he mentioned is predicted to include intensive regulations on illegal transactions such as misleading selling, cross trading and market price manipulation. In addition, it is expected to cover how to promote the NFT sector.