- After a highly publicized scandal involving a politician, South Korea passed new laws
- Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit, Coinone, and Gopax will implement data provision systems
South Korea is making around 6,000 public officials’ crypto assets and other asset holdings publicly available under new laws aimed at increasing transparency. In 2024 and beyond, the officials will have an integrated asset disclosure service available to them, South Korea’s Ethics Policy Division reported on Wednesday, cited by CoinDesk.
The new service, the Public Official Ethics System (PETI), will publicize the information from now on. Previously, officials’ asset disclosures were made in official gazettes.
The law changed after a scandal
After a highly publicized scandal involving a politician, South Korea passed new laws requiring public officials to disclose their crypto assets in the spring of this year. A South Korean ethics policy official stated in Wednesday’s post:
We expect that the transparency of the public service community will be further increased through the implementation of an integrated service for public official property disclosure and property registration of virtual assets.
Starting in the middle of next year, crypto exchanges Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit, Coinone, and Gopax will implement data provision systems to help trace holdings, the report added.
Crypto regulations: US vs. the East
As US regulators hammer down on crypto and stablecoins, countries like South Korea and Hong Kong are taking steps toward progressive legislation. In related news, Hong Kong financial regulatorsproposed regulations to supervise stablecoin issuers through a regulatory sandbox and a licensing regime. These are aimed at communicating expectations and compliance guidance to prospective issuers.
Progressive stablecoin laws
They will introduce the regime through laws mandating issuers who meetcertaintermsto have a license issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
Companies that want to issue a fiat-referenced stablecoin in Hong Kong, to market stablecoins in Hong Kong, or to issue a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin will need to have a license issued. If not, they will not be able to do business in the city-state.
