South Korea to tighten crypto exchange listings with upcoming guidelines: report

New guidelines imposing tighter regulations for token listings on centralized crypto exchanges will be released by South Korean financial authorities, news agency News1 reported.

The report states that tokens issued by projects that have been hacked and have not yet resolved security issues could be prevented from listing on local exchanges, per the guidelines. 

Additionally, the report stated that the Financial Services Commission in the country may mandate that foreign token projects develop specific whitepapers for the local market to get listed on domestic exchanges. Yet, tokens already listed on a licensed exchange for over two years may not need to meet these new criteria.

The guidelines may also require exchanges to delist cryptocurrencies if their issuers fail to properly disclose necessary information, such as if the actual circulation number does not match the disclosed amount. The South Korean government plans to issue the new guidelines as early as later this month and is gathering opinions from local exchanges, the report further stated.

The Financial Services Commission, the leading regulatory body overseeing the local financial sector, has not responded to The Block’s request for comment.

South Korea hosts one of the world’s most active cryptocurrency markets. Data from The Block indicates that South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, processed over $221 billion in spot trading volume in March, nearly 9% of the global spot volume.