Hack before impending regulation - Korean Crypto Market news
I am sure I am not the first to write about this, but I have never seen the following on here before....
The Korean
"Rep. Park Yong-jin of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said in a release Monday he would introduce three revisions in July to build a set of regulatory frameworks for digital currencies."
What this means is that Korea intends on protecting itself against a Crypto bubble popping and damaging it's economy.
Electronic currency Exchanges, Brokers, traders and other business organisations that deal or transact in cryptocurrency will be required to Government regulatory approval.
Does this mean the end of Crypto in Korea?
Some may argue it will dull the market, most people like the idea of Cryptocurrency being unregulated, it makes it more risky, more exiting and more taboo. I would argue however, more businesses, traders, brokers and laymen will be likely to take up the mantle, having a bit of reassurance knowing that there is a process involved that could actually maintain the value of currencies and takes some of the more 'extreme' levels of risk away, or at least greatly reducing them. This especially looks like an interesting concept this week in the wake of the Bitthumb hack. ...Coincidence?
Bithumb
Thumb biting has been an insult in Europe for centuries, so Korea now, I am sure will find this apt following the Billions of Won that was taken during the hack this week. An employee's machine was hacked and not their central server system, with a potential 30,000 user details compromised. Clients are claiming that they have had money stolen and have been subjected to phishing scams via phone calls since the event.
Koreas internet guardian; Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), is most probably the group investigating the incident. The KCSC is notoriously strict, so it is interesting how this incident happened. For example, under 16's have a midnight curfew on the internet, and users are required to enter a Government issue ID when using the internet. A bit harsh you say? If you lived next door to North Korea, and were still technically at war with them, you would be careful. It is still technically illegal to remove a map from South Korea, even via virtual means, Google for example are not allowed to use map information on their services, meaning google maps cannot be used in South Korea to navigate.
Rockets to the boom
Recently, we all know that Kim Jong un has been building 'Russian design' missiles, well we know that the news has been reporting this anyway. This is the problem; propaganda, El Presidente Trump (in the UK this is a colloquial equivalent of Fart, always amuses me!) is preparing for war with Korea, tens of thousands of U.S. marines are based in Okinawa, ready for action. Only the Wars we now fight, also involve the Cyber realm, which really now concerns us all.
Could this hack on Bithumb have been instigated by the State to garner support for the Regulation or was it a Cyber attack by North Korea? Was it a cheeky Blackhat who took an opportunity? It seems a bit too specific to me, not a lucky punt in the dark, but a targeted attack.
I guess we'll never know, but having one of the biggest markets in the world hacked and then regulated will make for some interesting developments over the next 2 weeks. Keep your eyes on the Korea Herald.