Since Korea’s initial ban of ICOs back in September of last year, policy and decision makers have been going back and forth on its possible reallowance. The Korean government had considered reversing the ban in May 2018 and again in August 2018, amidst hot discussions on Korea’s role in the blockchain and crypto space. The government has now recently announced that it will reveal an official position on ICOs in November.
Regulators and lawmakers are taking a wary stance on ICOs due to high uncertainties, speculation and potential fallouts that are commonly attached to the volatile crypto industry. In an effort to protect its citizens from being victims of fraud, the government followed suit with China in banning ICOs.
Choi Jong-koo, chairman of Korea’s Financial Services Commission, reaffirmed his stance in an October audit session at the National Assembly: “Many people say the Korean government should allow ICOs, but ICOs bring uncertainty and the damage they can cause is too serious and obvious. For these reasons, many foreign countries ban ICOs or are conservative towards them.”
With November fast approaching, many are curious to see if this decision will truly make a change, or if it is yet another round of ambivalent ‘ICOs may be lifted’ announcements. What are your predictions on this upcoming stance?
Other Korean News:
(By Marie Huillet, Cointelegraph)
(By Joseph Young, CCN)
(By Georgi Georgiev, Bitcoinist
(By Kim Young-won, The Investor)
(By Wolfie Zhao, Coindesk)
