South Korea’s Ministry of Justice is stepping up its efforts to ensure that it has further control over crypto transactions.
Effectively, the Ministry of Justice will look to address issues such as money laundering that are perpetrated through the use of digital currencies.
To get there, the governmental body will rely on third-party software to monitor and track transaction history and will collate data so that it can check the source of funds for each transaction placed.
Moving forward, the ministry is also planning to develop a dedicated proprietary system to allow it and do just that.
The ministry is also looking to secure help from the private sector, having previously partnered up with licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.
Some of the exchanges have agreed to collaborate with the government on tracking and verifying the source of wealth, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Corbit, and Gopax.
It’s worth noting that standard anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer criteria are mandatory for all licensed exchanges in South Korea.
What is different here is that the ministry will have a further look into what the actual origin of funds is. Even if willing to accept further scrutiny, not all exchanges are currently in good standing with South Korean regulators.
Bithumb, for example, is being investigated over tax evasion and possible price manipulation.
South Korean authorities have been looking hard at the industry, with its tech savvy citizens jumping on the chance to adopt or participate in cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, authorities have been on the lookout for Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, a failed project that cost investors roughly $40bn, not including the knock-on effect.
Kwon is still on the run with South Korean authorities collaborating with Interpol to apprehend him.
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