BlocksInform
South Korea is a long-standing market for crypto exchanges and challenging platforms.
FTX, for instance, reportedly made a fortune off of the so-called Kimchi Premium, the gap in price between the cost of crypto in South Korea and elsewhere, largely fueled by the need for USD-backed trades, creating opportunities for arbitrage trading.
Adverse attention to the press.
While not illegal in itself, this method of revenue collection is generally unpopular. Furthermore, South Korea has taken notice of the bad publicity drawn by crypto in the wake of the recent Bithumb raids. It is interesting to note that although the terraformal laboratories do not have their head office in Korea, the fall of terra has also caused a rift in the local media.
It is not clear if the negative press generated during the past year or so had a large part of a word in the decision of the Korean government to fund this monitoring system.
Nevertheless, according to a report released by local publication KHGames and outlined by Wu Blockchain, a crypto reporter predominantly working on crypto developments in the APAC region, the Korean government has started developing a system to track digital asset trades and plans to implement it sometime this year.
The South Korean Ministry of Justice will introduce a “cryptocurrency tracking system” in the first half of this year to strengthen the tracking of money laundering and recovery of criminal proceeds using cryptocurrencies. https://t.co/2CLkaLUrX6
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 29, 2023
End-to-End Coverage of Transactions
The Virtual Currency Tracking System will reportedly monitor the transaction history of crypto users and seek to ascertain the source of the funds used in such transactions before they are remitted to the recipient.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice, the government agency allegedly led the development effort, said the tool was needed given the increased sophistication of the methods used by cybercriminals.
"In response to crime's sophistication, we will enhance forensic infrastructure. We will establish a criminal justice system that is consistent with international standards."
The crypto tracker will work as a barrier to cybercrime, increasing the amount of protection crypto investors receive in South Korea. Investors are already benefiting from the Korean police agreement with five major local crypto exchanges concerning cooperation on fraud and theft related to digital assets.
The exact capabilities of the next announced tracking system and the exact publication date have not yet been provided. Nevertheless, further updates are expected to be published by the Department of Justice in the near future, taking into account plans for the dissemination of the tool before the end of the year.
