The native token of the South Korean ICON blockchain ICX gained 60% in the last 12-hours as Yoon Seokryul, a crypto-friendly candidate won the country’s presidential election. Yoon is said to have minted his signature on the Icon blockchain at a startup forum in December 2021.
There is no doubt that cryptocurrency played a significant role in the presidential election win. During the election campaign, Yoon and his opponent Lee Jae-myung released campaign-related NFT. Moreover, cryptocurrency was at the core of South Korea’s election debate.
Yoon promised to deregulate South Korea’s crypto industry at a virtual asset forum earlier this year. He highlighted that South Korea needed to overhaul unreasonable regulations to realize the unlimited potential of the crypto market. Now the president of the East Asian country plans to help create blockchain tech-related unicorns. Yoon also promised to introduce a law that would see crypto profits gained from illicit activity returned back to its victims.
Over the years, crypto assets and their adoption have gained pace in South Korea. The country’s young citizens have been said to be leaving their jobs to pursue day-trading cryptocurrencies. But digital asset regulation has been a touchy point for politicians. Strict legislation saw major crypto exchanges in South Korea shut down in September 2021.
The South Korean government, in March 2021, passed a law to enhance the supervision of digital assets. It mandated all cryptocurrency exchanges to register with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit. The country is set to align its framework for cryptocurrencies with its anti-money laundering policies.
