BlocksInform
Conservative candidate Yoon suk-yeol, a former attorney who promised to deregulate the cryptography industry, will become the next president of South Korea.
We had some of the tightest elections in the history of South Korea. Yoon beat his opponent, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Liberal Party, by less than one percentage point on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Crypto was one of the hottest subjects in the electoral campaign. Yoon and lee have announced crypto-friendly positions in an attempt to win younger electorate.
Rising household debt and wage stagnation have led many young Koreans to turn to the stock market and crypto-investments to move forward. Strict regulatory changes saw nearly 70 Korean exchanges shut down in 2021, leaving only a handful operating.
Read more: Young, Crypto-Savvy Voters May Hold the Key to South Korea’s Next Election
Across South Korea’s top three exchanges, there are more than five million individual crypto accounts – representing nearly 10% of the country’s population.
Unicorn hunting and reducing crypto taxes
During his campaign, Yoon promised to deregulate the crypto industry. At a crypto conference in January, Yoon said regulations “that are far from reality and unreasonable” must be overhauled in order to “realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market.”
During a conference about cryptography in January, Yoon said rules "that are far from reality and unreasonable" need to be revised in order to "realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market."
Yoon has expressed an interest in attracting and developing crypto "unicorns" – start-ups worth an estimated $1 billion or more. Starting in 2023, a 20% tax is to be levied on crypto gains above KRW 2.5 million ($2,024) earned in under a year.
Beginning in 2023, 20% of crypto earnings over KRW 2.5 million ($2,024) earned in less than one year will be taxed.
Some of South Korea’s biggest companies in the entertainment and gaming sector have indicated an interest in crypto, pledging during their annual shareholder meetings to create non-fungible tokens (NFT) or play-to-earn games.
Some of the biggest companies in South Korea in the entertainment and gaming industry have expressed an interest in cryptography, commit at shareholders' annual meetings to create non fungible chips (NFTs) or to play to win. Lee, the vice-champion, focused on the gambling firms. He created a working group on games and metavers and promised to turn the country into a crypto center.
Lee has also published his own ETFs and has indicated that he will accept campaign donations in crypto.
“Something has to happen after the presidential election,” Harold Kim, former director of the Korea Blockchain Association, told CoinDesk in February.
