"No Taxation Without Protection" 2030 Turning Away... Ruling and Opposition Parties Urge Protection for 'Coin Investors'

"Coin is the Future Food Source," "Experts Must Discuss," United Opposition in One Voice
Major Cryptocurrency Investors Aware of 2030 Voter Sentiment

Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The ruling and opposition parties have called for the initiation of measures to protect investors in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin and to establish legal frameworks. This is interpreted as a response to the backlash from the 2030 youth generation, who have shown great interest in virtual currency investment. Earlier, when Eun Sungsoo, the Financial Services Commission chairman, referred to virtual currencies as "unacceptable assets," some investors expressed anger and demanded his resignation.

No Woongrae of the Democratic Party of Korea wrote on his Facebook on the 22nd, "Chairman Eun's remarks have caused a huge stir. There are even talks of him being the second Park Sangki, former Minister of Justice," adding, "Not considering using virtual currencies as future food sources but only disparaging and regulating them as speculative tools is about protecting the vested interests of the financial sector and is a 21st-century version of isolationism."

He continued, "In the first quarter alone, 2.5 million people newly entered coin trading. Demanding exchanges to register while talking about closures only causes confusion in the market," and criticized, "It is inconsistent to say that a 20% capital gains tax will be collected from next year while failing to provide even minimal investor protection."

Yang Hyangja, also from the same party, argued that taxation should be deferred until a system for virtual currencies is established. In a Facebook post on the 26th, she said, "What is certain is that it is hard to agree with collecting taxes on something that has no asset value," and stated, "It is contradictory to impose taxes while not recognizing it as an asset."

She emphasized, "If taxation is imposed before the nature of virtual currencies is properly defined, it will be difficult to gain market trust," adding, "A system based on an unstable market only causes anxiety and change."

Joo Ho-young, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party (center), is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 26th. / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, the opposition party announced plans to prepare measures for protecting virtual currency investors and legalizing virtual currencies.

Joo Ho-young, acting leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized at the emergency committee meeting that day, "The government and ruling party are floundering and unable to find direction regarding virtual currency issues," and said, "With over 2.5 million cryptocurrency investors, it is said that they do not even know how much of the people's assets have actually flowed into the cryptocurrency market."

Joo said he would establish a virtual currency task force (TF) to study measures such as taxation and related systems for virtual currencies, explaining, "Instead of just threatening to tax cryptocurrency income at lottery-winning levels and close exchanges, we need to discuss with experts whether to institutionalize cryptocurrencies and how to protect investors."

He added, "It is illogical to say that income will be taxed while investors cannot be protected," and pointed out, "The 2030 youth who rushed into cryptocurrency investment like a craze are expressing absurd feelings of betrayal and unfairness."

On the morning of the 23rd, the Bitcoin price was displayed on a monitor at the Bithumb Gangnam Customer Center in Seoul. At around 7:54 a.m. that day, the Bitcoin price at this exchange dropped to 57.9 million won. / Photo by Yonhap News

The ruling and opposition parties' unified call for measures to protect virtual currency investors appears to be mindful of the 'votes' of the 2030 youth generation. These young people, who are active as major players in virtual currency investment, are reportedly very sensitive to virtual asset taxation plans.

According to the status of investors in the four major domestic virtual currency exchanges (Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit, Coinone) disclosed by Kwon Eunhee of the People Power Party on the 21st, among the 2,495,289 newly established real-name accounts in the first quarter (January to March) of this year, those in their 20s and 30s accounted for 32.7% (816,039) and 30.8% (768,775), respectively. In other words, six out of ten new virtual currency investors belong to the 2030 generation.

Meanwhile, on the 22nd, Chairman Eun sparked controversy by stating at the National Assembly's Finance Committee plenary meeting that "the government cannot protect all of these investors."

On that day, Chairman Eun said in response to criticism that "government protection for virtual currency investors is insufficient," "I do not think people should be protected just because many invest. If they go down the wrong path, I think adults should tell them so."

He added, "The reason investors react sensitively to protection is that it presupposes investment, which leads to the concept of protection and the government's duty to protect, so they raise issues," emphasizing, "The government cannot take care of everything. They must invest under their own responsibility."

Some young people in their 20s and 30s have voiced opposition to Eun Seong-su, the Financial Services Commission chairman, stating that cryptocurrency investors cannot be protected. One petitioner criticized Chairman Eun on the Blue House National Petition Board, saying, "Take a moment to think about who created the wrong path now." / Photo by Blue House National Petition Board capture

Some young virtual currency investors have reacted against Chairman Eun's remarks, pointing out that he views virtual currencies not as financial investment assets but as speculative tools.

On the 23rd, a Blue House petition titled "We urge the voluntary resignation of Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sungsoo" was posted. The petitioner, who described themselves as an "ordinary person in their 30s," addressed Chairman Eun, saying, "You said adults should teach if people are going down the wrong path. Why have the youth of Korea been driven to such a position?" and urged, "Please quietly think about who created the current wrong path."

They continued, "What we learned from life seniors in their 40s and 50s is hypocrisy. The common trait of adults who ruin Korea is their attitude of trying to teach those younger than them," criticizing, "Life seniors accumulated assets riding the wave of rising real estate prices, but now they pour out various regulations so that the 2030 generation cannot even have opportunities."

They sarcastically pointed out, "Adults increased their assets through real estate speculation, but say virtual currencies are speculation and should be stopped. Truly, there is much to learn from adults." As of 9 a.m. on the 27th, this petition had received support from over 130,000 people.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.