South Korea Financial News

Leumi Bank, one of the largest lenders in Israel, reportedly started to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading.

South Korean tech giant LG Electronics has officially added blockchain and cryptocurrency as new business areas in its corporate charter. 

South Korean crypto exchanges have reached the government-mandated deadline to come into compliance with the so-called Travel Rule, but not all industry players are pleased with the measure.

SK Square, an offshoot of one of South Korea’s biggest chaebol conglomerates has announced plans to launch a cryptoasset before the year is out – and intends to link it to a whole host of the conglomerate’s business platforms.

South Korea’s biggest crypto exchanges are set to be regulated by the nation’s conglomerates regulator – a sign they have grown from relative obscurity into mega-companies in the space of just a few years. But the regulatory move would also ramp up scrutiny on what is already a heavily policed industry.

FanCraze is raising around $100 million in a new funding round from backers, including Cristiano Ronaldo, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) has bought a South Korean national treasure – in what represents a remarkable first for the nation’s culture and crypto sectors.

Klaytn (KLAY) had a promising start in March 2021, reaching an impressive $11 billion market capitalization following its debut. However, investors have exaggerated their expectations as the token's current total value stands at $3 billion, down roughly 70%.

Upon taking office in May, South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to zero tax crypto trading gains not exceeding 50 million won, approximately $40,000 similar to stock gains, according to Nikkei.

South Korean video game giants want to carve out a slice of the increasingly lucrative play-to-earn (P2E) crypto gaming pie – with heavyweight Neowiz set to drop a new crypto golf gaming title.

Amid the United States and the European Union taking measures to prevent Russia from using cryptocurrencies to potentially evade sanctions, some countries in Asia have also been moving to respond to the situation.

As Russia’s self-styled “special operation” against Ukraine continues, crippling economic sanctions remain the Western powers’ primary weapon to counter Russia’s military actions without triggering an even more dramatic escalation. As NATO and allies’ financial offensive unfolds, ensuring that the collective West presents a united front remains political leaders’ chief concern. The global crypto industry keeps getting suspicious looks as some agents of state power are seemingly entrenched in their beliefs that digital assets could be the weak spot undermining the efficiency of the sanctions push. Despite ample evidence to the contrary — including the FBI director’s Congress testimony — there are signs of increased regulatory pressure on the crypto industry participants, as well as policy initiatives that clearly capitalize on the situation to tighten state control of digital assets’ circulation.

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Bitcoin reached its highest at $42,000 on March 9th when US President Joe Biden signed the executive order. It is trading above $39,000 with dominance of nearly 42 per cent over the past day. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, meanwhile, is trading at US$2,500. The fluctuations in the market may continue the next week too, due to the inflation due to war.

South Korean media expect the nation’s President-Elect to up the crypto tax limit to impose uniformity with stock market traders – and venture into the unknown with pro-crypto policies. However, this is likely to result in more regulation rather than a laissez-faire approach.

Bashir Akram’s taxi business in the West Midlands is already feeling the crunch of soaring fuel prices. Less than a week after Russia invaded Ukraine, Akram said the price increased to £1.50 per litre, at times forcing him to panic buy.

Russia and Ukraine were involved in talks while the US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on cryptocurrency, which hinted towards positive movement over the new-age technology. Barring the dollar-pegged stablecoins, all of the top digital tokens were trading higher on Thursday. Terra zoomed 6 per cent, followed by a 4 per cent rise in Bitcoin and XRP each. Solana, Ethereum, Cardano added 2 per cent each.

The main opposition People’s Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol has won the race to become South Korea’s next President. Crypto policy was a key battleground in his victory – by less than a single percentage point – over his centrist rival from the ruling Democratic Party.

Conservative South Korean presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol has officially been elected as South Korea’s next president.

South Korea goes to the polls on March 9 to elect its next President – and crypto is likely to play a major role in determining the outcome.

NFT platform HeyLayer has partnered with the Stacks Foundation to host an event in the vSpace Metaverse to celebrate International Women’s Day.