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South Korean Government to Form Digital Assets Committee in Response to Terra Collapse: Report

The committee will provide criteria for the listing of coins by exchanges, introduce investor protections and monitor unfair trading.

Seoul, South Korea (Shutterstock)
Seoul, South Korea (Shutterstock)

The South Korean government plans to form a committee specifically to oversee the digital assets market following the collapse of Terra, according to a report by news outlet NewsPim.

  • The Digital Assets Committee, which could be launched this month, will provide criteria for the listing of coins by exchanges, introduce investor protections measures and monitor unfair trading.
  • Following the collapse of Terra last month, demands were raised in South Korea for the establishment of a body with specific oversight of the digital assets industry to provide protections comparable to what stock market investors have.
  • At present, supervision is handled by a range of government departments and watchdogs, such as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Science and ICT (information and communications technolgy).
  • Calls for increased oversight of the crypto industry were raised at a National Assembly emergency seminar last week. "We need to make exchanges play their proper role, and toward that end it is crucial for watchdogs to supervise them thoroughly," Rep. Sung Il-jong of the ruling People Power Party said.
  • Around 280,000 South Koreans are believed to have been victims of the plunge in the value of the Terra stablecoin UST and its sister token LUNA.

Read more: Why Is South Korea Throwing Money at the Metaverse?

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Jamie Crawley

Jamie has been part of CoinDesk's news team since February 2021, focusing on breaking news, Bitcoin tech and protocols and crypto VC. He holds BTC, ETH and DOGE.

Jamie Crawley