South Korea Bans Cryptocurrency

    As reported by Maeil Business Newspaper, South Korea has issued a ban on virtual currency holdings and transactions to all civil servants. The document entitled “Virtual currency holdings and transaction-related information for civil servants” has been circulated through the departments. In this document the personnel department requested that all government officials refrain from holding and trading virtual currency, especially in the work hours, even if there is no job relevance. This is actually the first case of government banning cryptocurrencies for all its public officials.  As you can see, the government of South Korea is quite adamant to stop any possibility of trading or investing in the cryptocurrencies using information learned by officials during their duties. This is, while quite strict, possibly the best approach for this kind of situation, because there have already been accusations of officials' insider trading and market manipulation using undisclosed information of future regulations.