Yoon’s vow to deregulate crypto in South Korea most likely triggered the interest of the majority of the voters.
Leading opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, who vowed to deregulate crypto in South Korea, has won the election and will assume office today. At the Virtual Assets Conference on January 20th, Yoon expressed his distaste for South Korea’s crypto regulations. He suggested that the blockchain industry should operate without rules unless they have been explicitly prohibited. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) saw over 2% since Yoon declared the deregulation of South Korea crypto.
The candidate of the People Power Party becoming the president is a turnaround for the conservative bloc. The last time the party ruled was in 2017, after the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. Ahead of Yoon is the challenge of uniting a country of over 51 million people divided by generational divisions, deepening economic inequality, gender bias, and a hike in real estate. These facilities increased during outgoing president Moon Jae-in’s administration.
For his administration, Yoon plans to establish an alliance with the United States – South Korea’s only treaty ally; in the face of increased missile activity by North Korea and competition with China, South Korea’s largest trading partner. After the election, US President Joe Biden has communicated with Yoon to felicitate him.
Crypto Deregulation in South Korea- Yoon’s Winning Strategy?
Millennials and Gen Z, who are the most crypto investors, make up a large percentage of voters in South Korea. Yoon’s vow to deregulate crypto in South Korea most likely triggered the interest of the majority of the voters. Furthermore, he promised to ease the tax burden on profits from cryptocurrency investments. The new president also expressed his plans for crypto-positive developments before the election. He mentioned his desire to help create blockchain-tech-related “unicorns” in South Korea.
In addition, Yoon promised the return of crypto profits made from illegal activity to its victims. This move will probably curb phishing attacks in the country, a favorable development for blockchain merchants.
Noteworthy is the issuance of campaign-related NFTs by Yoon and his opponent Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party. Both candidates seem to have adopted the crypto approach because Yoon won by less than a 1% margin, according to BBC’s election coverage. Although it may have been a blueprint, if critically examined, the South Korea crypto sector is an important topic to Yoon Suk-yeol.
Factually, Asian regulations on crypto have affected the merchants that some of the start-ups have exited to favorable markets. For example, Huobi’s re-entry into the US market resulted from such rigid regulations. Crypto regulation has been a pitfall for South Korean government officials, with illiberal rulings seeing the bulk of South Korea’s crypto exchanges shut down in September 2021. The absence of legislative simplicity concerning the taxation of digital assets has been a recurring source of confusion for individuals and entities
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