South Korea Could Become the First Crypto-Powered Country

According to BitcoinMagazine, South Korea could end up becoming the world’s first crypto-powered country. Meaning, it could be the country with a widespread adoption and acceptance of cryptocurrencies and is the epicenter of crypto innovations. It would also mean that the country runs enterprise-level blockchain infrastructure that is also scalable. And most importantly, the government and the crypto industry are not at loggerheads with each other.

Here are reasons why BitcoinMagazine felt that South Korea could be that place:

Cryptocurrency Adoption and Awareness

Quartz reported that South Korea is one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency markets, with more than 33% of the adult population owning some kind of crypto. Owning digital assets is a mainstream concept in South Korea.

The result of this kind of awareness is that there is a strong infrastructure in place in the country to handle huge volumes of trade. And infrastructure is one of the main hurdles that needs to be overcome to make anything mainstream – a hurdle that South Korea has already crossed.

Korean Government Expected to Take a Balanced Approach to Crypto Regulations

While there has been a lot of hype around how the Korean government reacts to cryptocurrencies, insider sources are very optimistic about the kind of stance that will be taken with regard to cryptocurrency regulation.

The current President Moon Jae-in, relies strongly on support from the young adult, tech savvy population of the country. And it is this demographic that has invested the most in the crypto industry. The government wouldn’t want to upset the apple-cart by putting harsh anti-crypto measures in place at this time.

Massive Underground Market

There are two things that are driving a massive underground market for cryptocurrencies in South Korea. The first is China. The Chinese government prohibits its citizens from exporting more than $15,400 of cash out of the country. But humans are inventive and it is now an open secret that many Chinese businesses and individuals are using the Korean crypto market to funnel money out of their country.

Another point is the North Korean embargo by the United States. However, the rumor tree says that aid is being provided to the struggling state via cryptocurrencies in South Korea. The rumors also say that North Korea has its own crypto mining set up and is channeling its funds through the South Korean market. There is also some evidence that suggests that North Korea is stealing cryptos from the South Korean market.

The point is, thanks to the amount of trading as well as the scale of trading, South Korean crypto exchanges are being forced to innovate security as well as scaling solutions. It may be for nefarious reasons, but that innovation will eventually trickle down to the rest of the industries, which will lead to more development in the crypto market.

Overall, with the kind of fast paced development in the cryptocurrency industry taking place in the country, South Korea could well be the first country in the world to be powered by digital currencies.