Opposition: "They said cryptocurrency is gambling, but the government invests... The ultimate hypocrisy"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The People’s Party has issued a statement calling public institutions and government ministries’ investments in virtual currencies the "ultimate example of double standards."

On the 6th, Ahn Hye-jin, spokesperson for the People’s Party, said, "The government, which claimed that virtual currencies cannot be assets like financial products or legal tender, has been revealed to have invested hundreds of billions of won in virtual currency-related products," adding, "While they themselves have been dabbling and investing in the virtual currency market, they recently shook the entire market by telling the public that there is no investor protection. This is an unprecedented case of double standards."

According to Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, government ministries and public institutions such as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and KDB Industrial Bank invested 50.215 billion won in virtual currency-related investment products from January 2017 to March this year. These institutions are known to have invested indirectly in major domestic cryptocurrency exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb.

Regarding this, spokesperson Ahn pointed out, "The government’s perception that virtual currencies are merely ‘gambling’ rather than financial assets has caused various social confusions and produced numerous victims," adding, "The government, which labeled young people who turned to virtual currency investments due to the lack of alternatives in the livelihood economy as speculators and incited a sense of crisis, is problematic. However, regardless of this, how will public institutions explain their completely contradictory investments to the public?"

She continued, "The government should not just cover ignorance with threats but should predict a clear future perspective on virtual currencies and prepare institutional measures accordingly," urging, "It is the responsible stance of the government to immediately devise strategic plans on how to protect the citizens who have already participated in a market that has already grown to tens of trillions of won."

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