According to a report by local media outlet Kyunghyang Shinmun on May 5, newly amended donation legislation in South Korea excludes digital currencies from accepted forms of donation. The Ministry of Public Administration announced that amendments to the “Donations Act” will permit various new donation methods, such as department store gift vouchers, stocks, and loyalty points from companies like Naver, but not cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
The legislation, set to take effect in July, expands donation methods beyond traditional bank transfers and online payments to include automated response systems, postal services, and logistics services. However, digital asset donations were notably excluded, despite their popularity in South Korea.
The Ministry did not provide specific reasons for excluding cryptocurrency donations, but the legislation will allow donations in local government-issued stablecoins pegged to the Korean won, as well as blockchain-issued gift vouchers.
In contrast, in the United States, recent reports indicate that over fifty percent of charitable organizations now welcome donations in digital currencies.
Additionally, South Korea is making efforts to elevate its temporary crypto crime investigative unit to an official department to address the growing number of cryptocurrency-related crimes and financial fraud cases.
On another front, Crypto.com, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, is encountering challenges in penetrating the South Korean market due to regulatory obstacles. Authorities in South Korea discovered Anti-Money Laundering (AML) issues in the exchange’s data submissions, prompting an “emergency on-site inspection” to oversee its operations.
May 2024, Cryptoniteuae
