Kim Sang-jo, Chairman of the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC), commented that closing down local cryptocurrency exchanges was impossible and unrealistic. These comments were in contrast to the proposal put forth a few days ago by Justice Minister Park Sang-ki which sent the worldwide cryptocurrency market into turmoil.
“It is a clear reality that there is no applicable legislation [to ban cryptocurrency exchanges],” said Kim Sang-jo, on a local radio show interview on Thursday.
He further added that, “[closure of cryptocurrency exchanges] was an unrealistic possibility.”
The FTC is investigating whether cryptocurrency exchanges have been in violation of electronic commerce laws set forth by the FTC regarding abiding by terms of service, unfairly restricting customer withdrawals, etc.
“The results of the investigation into possible e-commerce violations are to be out shortly, but any violation of the electronic commerce laws is not enough in itself to legally force the closure of cryptocurrency exchanges,” said Kim.
He stressed that if there were any illegal activities in the space, the government should regulate accordingly.
“The actual amount of money being invested into cryptocurrencies is not stable enough to be properly labeled as speculation,” said Kim.
