No legal grounds so far

At the moment, Bithumb, Korbit and Coinone, the three largest digital currency trading platforms in South Korea that control nearly 100 percent of the South Korean Bitcoin exchange market, have no legal grounds according to Park and the Financial Supervisory Service.

Therefore, the three exchanges along with other small trading platforms in South Korea will have to be licensed and regulated by the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service, which will require the retention of capital of at least $436,000.

More to that, new KYC and AML requirements established by the government will likely not be an issue for the majority of existing business and trading platforms as most exchanges have already integrated strict KYC and AML systems upon their launch. Some platforms such as Korbit, Bithumb and Coinplug are widely known for their strict verification process to avoid potential conflict with South Korean regulations.

In an interview with The Korean Herald, law firm Minwho head attorney Kim Kyung-hwan explained that the regulation and legalization of Bitcoin and virtual currencies would ensure that both traders and businesses will operate within the legal boundary without running into conflict with existing financial regulations.