South Korea Accelerates Regulation Post Crypto-Related Murder: Report

• A woman was kidnapped and murdered from her apartment in Gangnam district, Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
• The death was the result of a crypto-related dispute and has forced the authorities to speed up crypto law.
• South Korea is working on the Virtual Asset User Protection Bill, which includes around 9 separate crypto-related policies.
• The bill has officially passed its first review and is expected to be turned into law sometime this year. 

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There has been a surge in crypto-related crimes after the valuation of these blockchain-based digital assets skyrocketed recently. These crimes range from theft and scams to murders and money laundering activities. As a result, regulators around the globe are working on developing sound crypto regulations that will put an end to these crimes and make the industry safer for retail investors. A report said South Korea is working on a bill called the Virtual Asset User Protection Bill, which includes around 9 separate crypto-related policies. 

According to a report from Bloomberg earlier this week, the lawmakers in South Korea have sped up the processing of the legislature due to a murder whose origin was a crypto-related dispute. The authorities are now working to make sure that such crimes do not happen again and believe that regulating these blockchain-based assets is a necessity.

The report confirmed that the woman who was murdered was kidnapped from her apartment in the Gangnam district, the third largest district in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Authorities have noted that the crime occurred in an attempt to steal the woman’s cryptocurrencies and in a dispute over the digital assets. 

The chair of the National Policy Committee in the parliament of South Korea, Back Hyeryun, stated that quick implementation of these crypto rules is a must to prevent such brutal crimes from happening again, while adding:

“There is finally a consensus on both sides of the aisle that we need to get a law in place as soon as possible. There were too many issues, so it was necessary to focus on one thing first—investor protection—to move on quickly.”

It is also important to mention here that industry stakeholders are advising the government of South Korea on how to move forward with crypto regulation. These stakeholders include the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), an entity that includes the leading crypto exchanges in the country, i.e., Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax.

Additionally, the crypto regulation bill has cleared its first review and is likely to be turned into law sometime this year. 

Notably, crypto-related crimes in the country are on the rise. The authorities are investigating opposition politician Kim Nam-kuk, who was involved in the regulation of crypto assets and delayed a bill that was supposed to impose a 20% tax on cryptocurrencies from 2023 to 2025. 

Kim is accused of selling over $4 million in cryptocurrencies that he gained through illicit means prior to the enforcement of the “Travel Rule” by the Financial Action Task Force. Interestingly, the authorities raided the offices of local crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb, seeking transaction records. The politician is suspected of having his wallets on these crypto exchanges. 

Kim announced that he will be leaving the Democratic Party in order to prevent the ax from falling on his beloved political party. He stated that he would prove his innocence independently.

As reported earlier by BitcoinWisdom, South Korea is expected to tax airdrop tokens as well. A gift tax in the range of 10–50% might be applicable on the airdrop tokens, said the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. On the other hand, seven major traditional brokerages have begun preparing the framework for their own crypto exchanges that they seek to establish in the region.

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