August 21, 2019 @ 3:11 am By Cali Haan  |  

97% of Korea’s 200 cryptocurrency exchanges are at risk of bankruptcy as low volume and tightening regulations temper what was once one of the world’s busiest crypto-trading markets, Business Korea (BK) reports. Local exchange revenues are also being diminished as Korean crypto-coin projects increasingly seek to… Read More

August 20, 2019 @ 1:59 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

ICONLOOP, a blockchain enterprise based in South Korea, announced on Tuesday it has apply its blockchain-based certificate issuance service, which is called broof, to ‘ARTnGUIDE’, an online service platform in Korea for co-purchasing works of art operated by Yeolmae Company. ICONLOOP reported it has signed… Read More

August 8, 2019 @ 10:28 pm By Cali Haan  |  

South Korean financial regulators are planning to align the country with widely adopted FATF global guidelines by directly regulating crypto exchanges in the country under a licensing regime, Business Korea (BK) reports. The new FATF guidelines require crypto exchanges to report transactions that exceed a certain… Read More

August 8, 2019 @ 12:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Viva Republica, a payments and transfer Fintech that operates under the Toss brand, has raised $64 million in funding at a $2.2 billion valuation. The funding was led by Hong Kong-based Aspex Management. Existing investors Kleiner Perkins, Altos Ventures, Goodwater Capital, GIC, Sequoia Capital China,… Read More

July 31, 2019 @ 1:33 am By Cali Haan  |  

Korea’s central government has designated port city Busan as a “special free zone” for the development of blockchain technology (encrypted and distributed databases), but has stopped short of permitting ICO’s, FN News reports. The designation was made as part of a program implemented by the… Read More

July 23, 2019 @ 1:03 am By Cali Haan  |  

Data from the Korean ministry of Justice indicates that South Koreans lost $2.7 billion USD (2.7 trillion KRW) in cryptocurrency scams between July 2017 and June 2019, Korea Herald reports. The ministry also said it has indicted and detained 132 individuals accused of cryptocurrency fraud and… Read More

June 26, 2019 @ 7:58 am By JD Alois  |  

ICONLOOP, one of the largest blockchain enterprises in South Korea, has received regulatory approval for its ID services, according to a note from the company. ICONLOOP uses a proprietary blockchain engine “loopchain.” ICONLOOP has created a blockchain based digital ID service that may be used… Read More

June 18, 2019 @ 10:18 am By Cali Haan  |  

Following a recommendation made last year in April by Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, five cryptocurrency exchanges in the country have updated their terms of service to state they can be liable for losses resulting from cyberattacks or system malfunctions, YonHap News reports.  The new language… Read More

June 14, 2019 @ 11:54 am By JD Alois  |  

PeopleFund, a South Korea based online lender, has raised $35 million as part of an extension of a Series B funding round which was announced in October 2018.  PeopleFund is a marketplace lending platform which means it accepts investments from both individuals and institutions. PeopleFund… Read More

May 30, 2019 @ 7:56 am By Cali Haan  |  

Stating that they plan to “closely monitor market condition(s)… (and) strictly control…illegal acts such as fraud and (multilevel marketing),” officials from the Korean Department of Justice and the Financial Supervisory Commission held an emergency meeting May 28th to “examine…virtual currency market trend(s)” in the wake of price… Read More

May 28, 2019 @ 9:08 am By Cali Haan  |  

Seoul’s blockchain-enthused mayor, Park Won-soon, has announced at the Korean Future Forum his administration’s plans to turn Seoul into a data-accumulating “smart city” using a network of 50 ooo censors, blockchain databases and AI (artificial intelligence), Korean media outlet Queen reports. A cadre of business,… Read More

May 17, 2019 @ 4:13 am By Cali Haan  |  

Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) has published a comprehensive article on the current state of crypto law in Asia. Here, we provide a summary of the most salient point presented by ABLJ from each region. Philippines According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Global growth… Read More

May 9, 2019 @ 7:23 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Korbit, CPDAX, and GOPAX, three cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, announced earlier this week their partnership with CrossAngle to enhance the reliability of their coin listings. According to the trio, CrossAngle has developed a data disclosure platform, Xangle to tackle these problems. Data gathered directly from… Read More

April 12, 2019 @ 7:59 am By JD Alois  |  

International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies, has signed an agreement to work with South Korean blockchain firm ICONLOOP. According to a release, the goal is to establish a high-level framework of cooperation in the area of the… Read More

March 9, 2019 @ 9:52 am By Cali Haan  |  

The South Korean Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has created a task force dedicated to responding to a reported 800% increase in cryptocurrency crime complaints, South Korean news agency Naver reports. The task force, which will reportedly be, “packed…with professional investigators, prosecutors, and investigators as team heads,” was… Read More

March 4, 2019 @ 12:32 am By JD Alois  |  

Blockchain-based payment platform Terra has received an investment from VC Kakao Ventures – an independent subsidiary of South Korea’s internet firm, Kakao. The amount of the investment was not disclosed but was said to fund the expansion and mainstream usage of Terra’s blockchain payment solution… Read More

February 26, 2019 @ 10:16 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Korean cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbin, which took over “Top Ten Korean …Exchange” Youbit last April after Youbit lost $15 million USD (17 billion won) in customer funds in a hack, has declared bankruptcy and ceased all trading on February 22nd, Business Korea reports. Coinbin CEO Park Chan-kyu… Read More

February 20, 2019 @ 8:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Speedy blockchain Hedera Hashgraph has announced the first members of the Hedera Hashgraph Governing Council. The group will guide changes to the software run by Hedera distributed nodes over time. Hedera says the initial Council members will be Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, Magazine Luiza, Nomura Holdings,… Read More

February 8, 2019 @ 1:44 am By Cali Haan  |  

Bankers at Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea, have issued one of the most decisive warnings against the creation of a central bank-backed cryptocurrency so far, The Korea Times reports. International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde called last year for an “even-handed approach” to… Read More

February 1, 2019 @ 3:52 am By Cali Haan  |  

Bitfury, one of the world’s largest cryptomining  and “blockchain-services” firms has announced it is partnering with the Korea-based company Commons Foundation, “to open and operate Bitcoin transaction processing centers in Paraguay as part of the foundation’s “Golden Goose” initiative to expand cryptocurrency and blockchain innovation… Read More