The CEO of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has made some predictions regarding the upcoming new rules governing the national industry. The CEO believes there will only be between four and seven exchanges surviving new crypto regulations. During an interview with Hanguk Hyungjae, Heo Baek-young made a very grim forecast for the local crypto firms. He believes that smaller companies could “struggle” to meet the Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification requirements.
New crypto regulations to come into effect in March.
There are almost 50 crypto exchanges that are currently operating in South Korea. Upcoming regulations will become effective in March, but firms have been given a six-month grace period to meet the required measures. The amended Special Financial Transactions Information Act was approved by the National Assembly finance committee in November last year. Crypto exchanges are required to follow a series of banking protocols, including linking customer accounts to individuals and their bank accounts that are verified by a local identification document under new crypto regulations.
Bithumb is ready to meet all the new requirements.
Bithumb’s CEO praised the new crypto rules and believes his company is ready to meet all the requirements by the deadlines. Heo further pointed out the importance of differentiating from “companies with bad intentions.” He said that it is late to strengthen investor protection, but it is the right direction. However, he still thinks that many other platforms could struggle to abide by new anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. The new crypto regulations include naming the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) as the regulatory watchdog to oversee the South Korean crypto industry, seeking to end the anonymity in crypto trading.
