Key takeaways:
- Members of the National Assembly, the parliament of South Korea, have acquired and sold about $100 million worth of cryptocurrencies during the past three years.
- The precise amount of cryptocurrency traded on politicians’ accounts is expected to be 125.6 billion won (US$97.6 million).
Members of the National Assembly, the parliament of South Korea, have acquired and sold about $100 million worth of cryptocurrencies during the past three years.
The figures are taken from a report that the nation’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission released on December 29.
The research is the result of a three-month study conducted between May 30, 2020, and May 31, 2023, looking at the virtual asset transaction records of all 298 sitting parliamentarians.
According to the investigation, only 11 legislators accounted for all of the traded volume over the last three years, despite the fact that 18 out of 298 Korean MPs had records of having virtual assets.
The precise amount of cryptocurrency traded on politicians’ accounts, according to the study, is expected to be 125.6 billion won (US$97.6 million).
The most well-liked cryptocurrency among Korean legislators was Bitcoin. Nevertheless, the report states that their portfolios included 107 distinct cryptocurrency assets.
Following a controversy in May 2023, in which a local Democratic Party member was exposed for concealing at least $4.5 million in Wemix (WEMIX) token ownership, the South Korean government unanimously decided to require civil servants to report their cryptocurrency holdings.
Starting in 2024, the Public Official Ethics System will require nearly 6,000 South Korean officials to reveal their cryptocurrency holdings to the public. Meanwhile, five of the country’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, will introduce unique “information provision systems” to make it easier for users to register information about their holdings.
By July 2024, investors in digital assets will need to get interest when they deposit their money into an exchange, per an FSC notification. In addition to classifying virtual assets, the South Korean regulator also created guidelines for virtual asset providers on customer deposit management.
