South Korea Considers Banning Credit Card Purchases for Bitcoin

The most senior financial regulator in South Korea is putting out a proposal to alter the laws governing credit finance in the country, intending to make it illegal for local individuals to use credit cards to purchase Bitcoin.

When South Korean nationals purchased cryptocurrencies via foreign exchanges, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the country expressed worries about the possibility of unlawful outflows and money laundering.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) expressed these concerns in a legislative notice published on January 3. The Financial Service Commission (FSC) is concerned about the unlawful outflow of domestic funds offshore due to card payments on foreign virtual asset exchanges, money laundering, speculation, and the encouragement of speculative activities.

X post from South Korea’s Financial Services Commission. Source: X

Yonhap, a local outlet, reports that the current laws only allow transactions between virtual assets through deposit and withdrawal accounts that verify the user’s identity. However, these rules do not apply to cryptocurrency exchanges that are located in other countries.

The regulatory body for financial services is currently soliciting feedback from the general public over the proposal, which lasts until February 13th.

The regulatory body for financial services anticipates subjecting the proposal to a process of evaluation and resolution, with the goal of implementing it during the first part of the year 2024.