Things are getting heated in the Korean crypto space. A while back, the country’s tax agency said that it targeted tax cheats and would use data from crypto exchanges to do so. Now the country has a new law coming up that could make it difficult for exchanges to operate. The new law is barring exchanges from sharing order books with each other.
As this law comes into effect, several crypto exchanges have announced their exit from the Korean market. The latest of these is OKEx, one of the largest crypto exchanges in Korea. While the exchange has not cited the new law for the exit, speculation is rife considering that other exchanges are leaving too. Binance Korea shut down earlier in the year for this reason. There is speculation that Huobi could also be headed for an exit from the Korean market.
While announcing the exit, OKEx stated that customers must get their assets (fiat, and crypto) off the exchange by the 7th of April. The exchange has also stated that it would not be held liable by anyone who does not comply and withdraw their assets before the said date.
News coming out of Korea seems to have hit the market as Bitcoin’s value dropped from its peak of $60k to $54k. It will be interesting to watch how the market plays out as more exchanges fold up from the Korean market. South Korea is one of the largest and most influential crypto markets in the world.
