South Korean exchanges are moving overseas while foreign cryptocurrency exchanges are opening offices in South Korea.
South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges picked the United States, Singapore, and Malta as their centers of overseas operations.
They are going offshore out of the belief that cryptocurrency business is a global business and that they have limits in expanding business in South Korea where regulations are tight and initial coin offering is banned.
Bithumb announced Thursday that it would open its securities token exchange through a partnership with American crowdfunding platform SeriesOne. It will open the alternative securities trading exchange sometime before June next year once it gets an approval from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
Upbit picked Singapore as its base for its global operation in Singapore. It picked Singapore because the Singapore government is actively supporting the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.
On the other hand, three Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges—Huobi, OKCOIN, and Gateio—have opened offices in South Korea. These Chinese exchanges are allegedly believing that South Korea has a strong influence on the global cryptocurrency market. They also started business here because Korea has an abundant pool of blockchain producers, IT technicians, and a strong IT infrastructure.
Executives of South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges complained that they can find business opportunities in their home country where no regulations exist on blockchain and cryptocurrency business.
Leaders of the foreign cryptocurrency exchanges said the Korean government has been lukewarm in supporting the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. They said South Korea is now a global Internet powerhouse and a trendsetter in the global IT industry thanks to the government’s active support of IT startups In the late 1990s and early 2000s.
They said South Korea could become a global trendsetter in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry if and when the government supports blockchain producers and other startups.
Banks do not allow opening of the virtual accounts for cryptocurrency investors, a Chinese exchange executive said.
Unless the government lifts its ban on cryptocurrency and the ICO, blockchain startups and talented blockchain producers would go overseas, according to a Korea Blockchain Industry Promotion Association executive.
