South Korean Crypto Exchanges May Delist Hundreds of Altcoins

cryptonews.com:

South Korean crypto exchanges could delist “hundreds of altcoins” this year, with financial authorities ready to step up their policing of the sector.

Per the newspaper Daehan Kyungjae, the new Virtual Asset User Protection Act comes into force in July. That means that “starting next month,” regulators “will look into whether to [end] transaction support for about 600 coins on virtual asset exchanges.”

The media outlet said on June 16 that regulators are looking to “finalize a best practice plan for cryptoasset transaction support.”

The act comes into force on July 19, and is expected to shake up the industry. Fiat KRW-trading platforms, namely Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, will have to abide by its rules.

But these same rules will also apply to over 20 other exchanges that have not yet obtained KRW trading permits, and can only offer crypto-to-crypto pairs.

South Korean regulators will reportedly force 29 platforms to “conduct an initial review to determine” whether they will delist or maintain support for the 600 or so altcoins they collectively list.

Regulators will then force exchanges to conduct “quarterly” reviews of the coins on their platforms. Exchanges must flag potentially risky tokens with “cautionary notices” before eventually delisting them.

An unnamed regulatory official told the media outlet:

“In the case of coins that are currently being traded, we will support exchanges as they review their support over a six-month period. After that, they will have to conduct maintenance reviews once every three months.”

The new law will oblige all exchanges to create a listing and delisting unit that must assess the security, reliability, and compliance credentials of the coins on their platforms.

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