Report South Korea to review hundreds of cryptocurrency listings due to new legislation
South Korea is set to conduct a thorough examination of more than 600 cryptocurrencies listed on local exchanges next month as part of new regulatory initiatives.
The financial authorities in South Korea are gearing up to reassess the status of over 600 cryptocurrency listings on domestic trading platforms beginning in July. This move comes in the wake of the implementation of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, as reported by Korean news outlet Dnews, citing sources with knowledge of the situation.
Reports suggest that South Korean regulators are finalizing guidelines for crypto listings, which are scheduled to be enforced starting on July 19 under the new legislation. Nearly 30 registered crypto exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, will be required to conduct initial reviews to determine whether to keep or remove each token.
As per the new regulatory framework, crypto exchanges must establish a review committee to assess various factors such as the credibility of the issuing entity, measures for user protection, technological and security standards, as well as compliance with regulations.
Furthermore, additional criteria for evaluation include the issuer’s capabilities and reputation, past business track record, transparency in operations, total supply and circulation, market capitalization, and potential conflicts of interest between the trading platform and token holders.
According to the report, tokens issued by decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) may not meet standard requirements, while tokens that have been traded for more than two years in regulated markets such as the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, and Australia will undergo a less stringent review process. Additionally, crypto exchanges will be prohibited from accepting any form of payment in exchange for token listings.
Subsequent assessments will be conducted quarterly, with tokens deemed problematic being classified as cautionary and possibly removed from listings. Crypto exchanges will have a six-month period to decide whether to continue supporting existing crypto listings, followed by maintenance reviews every three months.
In other news, the Ministry of Justice in South Korea has formed a task force to combat crypto-related crimes.
