Crypto exchanges in South Korea should delist privacy coins like Monero by Mar 21. 2021
According to the Asia Times, South Korean regulators will ban privacy coins (privacy-focused cryptocurrencies) such as ZCash (ZEC) or Monero (XMR) as of March 21, 2021. It is known that this is the case. is the latest move that follows regulators’ enactment, targeting privacy-focused protocols in the wake of intensifying anti-money laundering efforts.
Privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash will be considered illegal in Korea from March 2021
As of March 21, 2021, Korean domestic crypto exchanges will no longer be allowed to list privacy-focused tokens such as Dash, XMR, and ZEC.
Sharing about the reason for the ban, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) revealed that:
“The privacy coins add a third party process that hides these transaction records, effectively making the parties involved totally anonymous and also making it extremely difficult for law enforcement to track them down.”
South Korea is now with Japan to become the second country to issue a specific ban on privacy coins. Countries like Bolivia, Morocco, and Pakistan have common bans on all forms of cryptocurrencies.
For FSC, a ban on private currencies is part of the government’s anti-money laundering effort. The move is also related to existing cryptocurrency trading laws that prohibit anonymous accounts from users of cryptocurrency exchanges.
Back in March, the Korean parliament passed a key regulation aimed at effectively legitimizing domestic cryptocurrency trading. However, a new law comes with a provision that exchanges need to work with banks to ensure the use of real-name accounts.
Several crypto exchanges in the country have removed privacy coins from their trading portfolio. Previously, in September 2019, OKEx Korea had removed 5 privacy coins from its platform.
Besides banning private currencies, South Korean authorities are also studying other regulations that focus on cryptocurrencies. In October, reports emerged of plans towards creating cryptocurrency trading laws, including provisions such as exemptions for certain utility tokens.
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