Formation of Joint Council for Coin Exchanges... Delisting Criteria to Be Established

Meeting between ruling party and government on the 13th... Disclosure of self-regulation measures for 5 major exchanges
Common standards established for abolishing investment warnings, excluding listing criteria
Possibility of including regular inspections under close watch

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Upbit, Bithumb, and the other three major domestic virtual asset exchanges plan to form a joint consultative body among exchanges to prevent a second Luna-Terra incident. They also agreed to establish common standards for investment warnings and precautions to notify investors in case of delisting.

The ruling party and the government plan to disclose these details, which form the core of the autonomous regulatory measures for coin exchanges, at the "Emergency Review Meeting on Restoring Fairness in the Virtual Asset Market and Investor Protection" scheduled for the afternoon of the 13th. However, the establishment of common listing standards across the industry is strongly opposed by the exchanges and is reportedly not included in this autonomous regulatory plan.

According to the ruling party, government, and related industry sources, the five major domestic coin exchanges each submitted their autonomous regulatory plans to the People Power Party and the Financial Services Commission on the 11th. The key point among these is the formation of a joint consultative body among exchanges. Going forward, if coin prices plummet sharply, the five exchanges plan to respond jointly through this consultative body. As seen in the Luna-Terra incident, listing and delisting standards varied from exchange to exchange, so even if one exchange blocked investment, trading still occurred on others, leading to inadequate investor protection. To minimize market confusion, the five major exchanges plan to hold separate meetings to prepare detailed contents and schedules for the joint consultative body.

They also decided to respond separately regarding listing and delisting standards for virtual assets. While the ruling party and government demanded common industry standards for listings, the exchanges maintained a negative stance. An industry insider said, "Listing is related to the competitiveness of exchanges. If listing standards were the same across exchanges, there would be no reason to differentiate between companies."

However, the industry agreed to establish common standards for delisting. They plan to evaluate coins and distinguish between investment warnings and precautions. Additionally, although the industry expressed a negative stance on regular evaluations of exchanges, it is reported that the ruling party and government have a strong intention to include this.

The ruling party, government, and industry attached significance to this being the first agreement on autonomous regulatory measures for virtual asset exchanges. An industry insider explained, "It is not an easy process for different exchanges to establish common standards. This is a mid-term review report showing that the five major exchanges will take the lead in responding with basic guidelines." Another industry insider said, "The purpose of today's announcement is for each exchange to establish at least minimum common standards, such as risk assessments when issues arise."

However, it remains uncertain whether autonomous regulation will lead to substantial investor protection. It is largely voluntary without binding force and only presents regulatory standards at a fundamental level. An industry insider commented, "Since the financial authorities are likely to use inspection cards, even if it is called autonomous, the industry will feel it as semi-mandatory."

The ruling party plans to pursue separate legislative work based on today's announcement. Previously, the People Power Party announced plans to propose the Blockchain Platform Basic Act. Yoon Chang-hyun, chairman of the party's Special Committee on Virtual Assets, stated in an interview, "We will incorporate what can be included in the bill and use this as reference material for drafting the legislation."

Attending the meeting along with Representative Yoon were Sung Il-jong, chairman of the People Power Party Policy Committee; Yoon Jae-ok, former chairman of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee; and Yoon Han-hong, secretary of the Political Affairs Committee. From the government side, Kim So-young, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and Lee Bok-hyun, the new head of the Financial Supervisory Service, were present.

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