Media: Bank of Korea to tighten oversight of digital assets

The Bank of Korea (BoK) is set to gain authority to investigate and monitor the activities of cryptocurrency firms, according to The Korea Herald.

BoK expressed concern about the risks to the economy posed by stablecoins, and will now be able to request transaction data from crypto exchanges.

For two years, the central bank has competed with another agency—the Financial Services Commission (FSC)—for the right to regulate the Web3 sector. The main authority, however, remains concentrated in the FSC.

“The Financial Services Commission recognises that the Bank of Korea needs the right to request data, but we refuse to include this clause in the bill,” said Deputy Kim Hangyu, who is pushing the digital assets bill.

The FSC expressed concerns that expanding BoK’s powers could treat cryptocurrency as traditional finance. Such an approach to regulation runs counter to the Commission’s view.

Meanwhile, officials from South Korea’s Political Affairs Committee accused the FSC of seeking to monopolise its position as the crypto regulator.

Earlier, in January, the local Ministry of Justice announced the rollout of a system to track crypto transactions to counter money laundering in the first half of 2023.

In February, the FSC published guidelines on security tokens that treat assets as securities.

Subsequently, media reported that South Korea’s financial regulators were turning their attention to staking services.