Cryptocurrency Thaw: South Korea Pushing for ICO Legalization

In September 2017, ICOs were banned in the country due to the abundance of hackers in the sector. These measures seemed too harsh at the time, but today there is a growing understanding that the authorities...

In September 2017, ICOs were banned in the country due to the abundance of hackers in the sector. These measures seemed too harsh at the time, but today there is a growing understanding that the authorities have saved Korean investors hundreds of billions of wons.

It has been a year since then, and there is no doubt that all this time South Korea has been working to address the issue and make new laws. Today, Min Byung-Doo, a member of the South Korean governing Democratic Party, stated that initial token offerings are becoming a global trend. He added, «I do not want the ICO door closed completely. The state should not ignore the problem.» Min Byung-Doo voiced his thoughts at the 8th plenary session of the National Assembly. He noted that regulation is critical: fraud and speculation should be banned and representatives of the crypto industry should work to develop safety standards.

Up to then, it was only provincial officials who spoke in favour of ISOs in South Korea. Now that the country’s metropolitan authorities started talking about them, it may indicate that the legislation is almost ready.

In all fairness it should be noted that the ICO ban in South Korea did not stop the 2017 bull run. Therefore, no significant market spurt should be expected after ICOs legalization in South Korea. However, Ethereum may start feeling better. It should not be forgotten that Korea has a huge impact on the cryptocurrency market, comparable to the influence of the USA, China and Japan. In fact, altcoin listings with Korean stock exchanges almost always lead to coin pumps. Binance listings, for instance, do not bring about such effect. Therefore, this news should go straight into the folder with other pieces of good news prevailing in the market in the last few weeks. You can read about them in our weekly market reviews.