Lawmaker Kim Sun-dong of the major opposition Liberal Korea Party Wednesday proposed a bill to legalize the trading of cryptocurrencies.
The bill, named the Digital Asset Trading Promotion Act, classifies cryptocurrencies as digital assets and the cryptocurrency exchanges as digital asset trading companies.
The cryptocurrency exchange should get a license from the Korea Financial Supervisory Commission. It must have a minimum capital of more than three billion won (about $2.9 million). It must compensate investors when investors sustain loss due to hacking and other violation of trading rules.
The exchange must also abide by the strict anti-hacking code. A CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange faces jails of fewer than 10 years or penalty of less than 100 million won when the exchange leaked investor data outside.
The lawmaker said lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties would join hands to pass the bill. However, he added that the government should change its negative view on cryptocurrencies and its ban on initial coin offering. Currently, five bills related to cryptocurrencies are awaiting deliberation at the National Assembly.
