South Korea FSC grants Central Bank digital asset scrutiny

South Korea’s central bank will be allowed to step in and increase its role in cryptocurrency service operators and crypto-related businesses.

According to a local media outlet, the Bank of Korea (BoK) has been given the authority by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to investigate crypto businesses. Historically, the Bank has been competing with the country’s financial watchdog over crypto jurisdiction. However, the latest report indicates that the Bank will be able to increase its scrutiny over crypto businesses with the FSC maintaining all final governing say.

Stablecoins have been a concern from the Central. Bank. With the new authority, the BoK will be able to ask for information from crypto exchanges regarding transactions in order to review financial stability and volatility risks. The confirmation was granted last week, granting full rights to request data from crypto platforms from the Bank.

A comprehensive rollout of the legislation to underpin South Korea’s views on virtual assets like Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH) will be rolled out following a subcommittee meeting held tomorrow.

Cryptocurrency in South Korea

According got lawmaker Kim Han-gyu, a member of the democratic party and leading the crypto regulations:

“The Financial Services Commission admits that it is necessary for the Bank of Korea to have the right to request data, but it is refusing to include it in the bill.”

The FSC has given right to the Central Bank, but the move has come with a disclaimer. Previously, the FSC chair has stated that he does not consider cryptocurrency to be the same as financial assets. This means that the Central Bank’s governance over cryptocurrency should not be seen that the financial watchdog percieves crypto the same as traditional finance.

The move does not take governance from the FSC. Rather, both the Central Bank and the financial regulator will be able to conduct investigations into data from crypto platforms.