Nearly six months after banning the Initial Coin Offerings - cryptocurrency-led fundraisers - the South Korean regulators would be ready, under certain conditions, to backtrack.
ICOs allowed again in South Korea?
Financial Supervisory ServiceAt the end of September 2017, the Financial Supervisory Service ( FSS ) had decided to ban ICOs , citing the need to protect investors. The country was thus joining the country to China, which had taken a similar initiative a few weeks earlier.
But the financial regulator may decide to back down, according to a recent article by the Korea Times . Citing a source who wished to remain anonymous, the newspaper reported discussions between financial authorities, which would be ready to reauthorize the ICOs under certain conditions - conditions that have not yet been disclosed.
Here is what this source, which would be very close to the file, said:
" The financial authorities have discussed with the country's tax agency, the Ministry of Justice and other government agencies about a scheme to authorize ICOs in South Korea, once certain conditions are met."
While some feared that South Korea decided to follow China and to prohibit the crypto-currency trading, the government had finally contented to close anonymous accounts trading. Let us add that the authorities have never prevented investors from turning to foreign ICOs , while local startups do not have access to this innovative financing method.
No decision has been made
South Korea and crypto-currenciesKang Young-soo , in charge of the rules imposed on the crypto-currency trading to the Financial Services Commission ( FSC ), revealed that the government authority had not yet decided whether to allow savers and companies to participate in ICOs.
" Many speculate on the possibility of authorization of ICOs, " he told the Korea Times . " The FSC has taken into consideration the external elements regarding this issue, but we can not yet say anything officially ."
These new observations are the result of the vice president of the FSC , Kim Yong-beom , who had suggested in December that the country could backtrack . For this, he mentioned a condition: he would have only institutional investors can participate in the fundraising, to take apart " citizens 'classic', which does not have sufficient information about their technology and of their complexity ".