South Korea justice ministry prepares to ban cryptocurrency trading, exchanges raided

(Jan 11): South Korea’s justice minister said on Thursday the government is preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading, throwing the virtual coin market into turmoil as the nation’s police and tax authorities raided local exchanges on alleged tax evasion.

The clampdown in South Korea, a crucial source of global demand for cryptocurrency, came as policymaker around the world struggled to regulate an asset whose value has skyrocketed over the last year.

“There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and justice ministry is basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges,” said Park Sang-ki at a press conference, according to the ministry’s press office.

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