South Korea authorities will focus on making cryptocurrency trading transparent rather than outlawing it altogether, Hong Nam-ki, minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said in a video posted on the presidential website, Bloomberg reported.
The statement comes after more than 200,000 Koreans backed a petition on the Blue House website of President Moon Jae-in denouncing the justice ministry’s proposal to ban cryptocurrencies.
Hong said policy makers will continue monitoring the global discussion around cryptocurrencies and that an exchange ban is still a possibility, even though it isn’t currently a focus of the government.
Korea is studying a cryptocurrency tax and will beef up the security of digital assets, Hong added.
“The news today that South Korea will not ban cryptocurrencies outright has buoyed the market, following a period of negative news," Iqbal Gandham, managing director of crypto platform eToro, told Markets Insider.
"Rumours of regulatory clampdowns have worsened what is typically a bad time of the year for cryptos, but the tide is starting to turn – particularly with Singapore also ruling out a ban last week," he added.
Bitcoin (Bitcoin) has appreciated about 8% percent over the past 24 hours to reach $9,337, according to CoinMarketCap.com.