South Korean lawmakers are reportedly going to submit drafts of bills on cryptocurrency, initial coin offerings (ICO) and blockchain regulation during an extraordinary session of the National Assembly, The Korea Times reported.
The extraordinary session will be held from July 13 to 26.
According to the report, Rep. Park Yong-jin of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Rep. Chung Tae-ok of the main opposition Liberty Party Korea (LPK) and Rep. Choung Byoung-gug of the minor opposition Bareun Mirae Party are planning to submit their respective bills that focus on the legality of cryptocurrencies in the country, requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and other things.
Rep. Song Hee-kyung of the LPK and the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) will co-host a policy debate on the security of domestic digital currency exchanges on July 19.
South Korea banned cryptocurrency trading using anonymous accounts earlier this year. Under the new measures, only accounts with real usernames will be allowed to be used in cryptocurrency trading. In May, the newly appointed governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) had hinted at the regulator’s plans to ease cryptocurrency regulations in the country.
Furthermore, the National Assembly itself has proposed lifting the ban on domestic initial coin offerings (ICOs) in May.
More recently, reports suggested that the South Korean government is going to announce a classification system for the domestic blockchain industry this month.
While the government is striving hard to protect investor interest with proper regulations, Bithumb, the country’s one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, lost 35 million won (approximately $31 million) worth of cryptocurrencies in a major hack on its platform last month. Another South Korean exchange Coinrail also lost around $37 million to hackers.
