Choo Kyung-ho: "Ignoring Protection for Cryptocurrency Investors While Imposing Taxes Is 'Thief's Mindset'"

Cryptocurrency Transactions Surge from January to March This Year
Cases of Fake Disclosures Followed by Delisting
"Tax Deferral Measures Needed Until System Reform"

Choo Kyung-ho, Member of the People Power Party / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 27th, Kyeongho Chu, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out regarding virtual currency trading, "It is contradictory for the government to ignore investor protection on the grounds that it is not a financial product, while planning to tax investment profits starting next year."

According to Representative Chu, approximately 1,500 trillion KRW was traded in just three months from January to March this year on the four major virtual currency exchanges. This amount surged to about 4.2 times the total annual trading volume of 357 trillion KRW last year. The number of domestic investors is about 4 million, and the cumulative investment amount with verified real names alone is 19 trillion KRW. This is equivalent to the combined daily trading volume of the two major stock markets, KOSPI and KOSDAQ.

Representative Chu diagnosed, "As everyone rushes into virtual currency investment trading, (virtual currencies) are repeatedly experiencing daily fluctuations of tens of percent," adding, "Some coin prices have soared by thousands of percent in a short period, raising concerns about a game of hot potato among investors." He also stated, "There are about 100 domestic virtual currency exchanges, but there is no supervision of exchanges, no safety standards for coin trading, or disclosure regulations, leaving investors to blind investments or encouraging them." He further reported that some virtual currency companies frequently make fake disclosures and delist coins when prices surge, causing the damage to be transferred to investors.

He also criticized the government for only threatening to impose taxes without preparing any related measures such as investor protection. Representative Chu emphasized, "If the government intends to tax virtual currency assets, it must establish systems related to the issuance and distribution of virtual currencies and special laws for the virtual currency industry, as seen in the US, UK, and Japan," adding, "In particular, it should promptly prepare related regulations to ensure trading stability, transparency, disclosure reliability, and investor protection measures."

He continued, "It is the minimum duty to investors to tax virtual currency investment income only after systematic regulations related to virtual currencies are established, and tax deferral measures should be implemented until related systems are properly organized."

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