Samjong KPMG and Xangle seminar says crypto market will improve this year

Seongnam City Hosts Seminar on Industry 4.0 AdvancementSeongnam City of Gyeonggi Province announced that it held a seminar on Tuesday under the theme “Seongnam: 50 Years Today, 50 Years Tomorrow” at the city hall to discuss the vision and prospects of the city’s identity as a technological hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0. Some 100 individuals were in attendance, including the city’s mayor, Shin Sang-jin, and the Director of the Seongnam Research Institute, Im Jong-soon, along with other experts, citizens, and city officials.Photo by Sandro Katalina on UnsplashPath to the Fourth Industrial RevolutionFor Seongnam to develop further, Shin emphasized the need for a specific vision for the city’s future growth. “Gathering individual talent and corporations to drive innovation is the key to leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said.Shin presented seven major tasks required to achieve this goal, including the establishment of a next-generation semiconductor cluster, a bio cluster, an Industry 4.0 cluster, a special zone dedicated to blockchain and the metaverse, a metaverse platform, and a smart city, as well as a Digital Twin City project. Director Im Jong-soon pledged that the Seongnam Research Institute would support the city’s development through extensive research.During the seminar, multiple experts also gave presentations on various topics, such as the growth process of Seongnam’s industry, digital transformation, and the city’s tasks in becoming an Industry 4.0 hub.Following the presentations, a panel discussion was led by Jang Yoon-jong, a research fellow at the Korea Development Institute. The discussion included participation from Lee Kwang-yong, Head of Policy Strategy at Naver; Kim Seo-gyun, Secretary-General of the Korea Fabless Industry Association; and Kwon Soon-bum, a research fellow at the Seongnam Research Institute. The panelists engaged in a lively debate on the prospects of Seongnam’s development.Innovation and research for a vibrant futureThe Seongnam Research Institute was established on July 3, becoming the first of its kind among cities with a population of over 500,000 to provide policy alternatives and improve the quality of life for citizens through systematic research on current issues.

A Cambodia-headquartered financial group recently cut off from the U.S. financial system is suspected of having operated in South Korea, raising fresh questions about cross-border crypto and currency flows tied to the group. According to the Dong-A Ilbo, which cited data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS), Huione Group—now sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)—appears to have run a currency exchange in Seoul from 2018 to July 2024. The outlet reported that a banner on the premises displayed a logo identical to Huione’s, prompting suspicions about its ownership and control.Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric on PexelsTies to North Korean hackersThe exchange reported conducting roughly $20,000 in annual currency conversions during that period, excluding cryptocurrency transactions. The timeline overlaps with a period in which Huione Group reportedly received $150,000 in cryptocurrency from the North Korean hacking group Lazarus.  Connections also extend to Cambodia. Panda Bank—a local lender that shares a building with Huione subsidiaries—supports USDT transactions originating from South Korea. Panda Bank director He Yanming is listed as the owner of Huione Crypto, a virtual asset service provider (VASP), suggesting potential links between operations in Seoul and Phnom Penh. These developments come against the backdrop of a U.S. investigation disclosed in May, in which FinCEN said Huione’s business networks, including payments arm Huione Pay, collectively laundered at least $4 billion in illicit proceeds between August 2021 and January 2025. Crypto used in $2.6B illegal conversionsMeanwhile, recent KCS data also shows a rise in illegal currency conversions involving cryptocurrency by foreign nationals. The Korea Economic Daily reported conversions totaling 432 billion won ($302 million) in 2021, climbing to 836 billion won ($584.5 million) in 2023 and 956 billion won ($668.4 million) last year. Over the past eight years, the total amount involved in such cases reached 3.7 trillion won ($2.59 billion) across 28 instances. By value, Chinese nationals accounted for 84.1% of the total, followed by Australians (11.1%), Vietnamese (3.2%), and Russians (1.6%). The growing prevalence of cryptocurrency in illicit activity parallels a broader surge in crypto investment within the country. Many South Koreans have turned to digital assets, often with home ownership as a long-term goal. Trading on local exchanges, Bloomberg reported, is heavily skewed toward more volatile altcoins, which make up more than 80% of total volume.  That stands in contrast to global markets, where investors largely focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum, which together make up more than half of overall trading. The momentum in local crypto investment intensified after Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential victory, with crypto trading in Korea reaching $27 billion in December 2024, about 80% of turnover on the KOSPI stock index. The investigation underscores the growing challenge for regulators in tracking and containing cross-border financial networks that rely on cryptocurrency and informal money transfers. As crypto adoption deepens in South Korea and scrutiny widens abroad, authorities find themselves navigating an increasingly intricate intersection of financial opportunity, enforcement, and risk. 

Korea considers legal recognition of virtual assets as trust assets for investor protectionSouth Korea’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is assessing whether customers’ virtual assets on cryptocurrency exchanges should be legally recognized as trust assets. This classification would give users priority in claiming their virtual assets in case of an exchange’s bankruptcy, thus strengthening investor protection. There’s a noted concern about potential disputes in such bankruptcy situations, as users’ digital assets are typically considered to be in the custody or storage of these platforms.Photo by Daniel Bernard on UnsplashLegal study by Seoul National UniversityAccording to a Tuesday report by local news outlet ChosunBiz, citing industry and legal sources, the MOJ has initiated a legal study on this subject. The research is being conducted by the Seoul National University R&DB Foundation, which started the project earlier this month.Through this study, the MOJ is expected to examine the legal classification of cryptocurrency as property. This review is significant because, for cryptocurrencies to be held in a trust, they must be legally recognized as property. Meanwhile, the upcoming Virtual Asset User Protection Act, set to come into effect next July, mandates that only cash deposits made by users be segregated from the assets of the exchange itself.In Korea, under the current provisions of the Capital Markets Act, virtual assets are not recognized as being held in a trust. Instead, staked cryptocurrencies are seen as being under custodial management or storage. In such arrangements, only a debtor-creditor relationship concerning virtual assets is acknowledged, differing from the legal framework of a trust.Prioritization of rightsIf a cryptocurrency exchange becomes insolvent and enters liquidation, the current legal framework could end up prioritizing the rights of the exchange’s creditors or shareholders over those of the crypto investors. This situation has faced criticism for its inadequate protection of investors. However, if the crypto assets were considered to be held in trusts, it would enable users to acquire “rights to foreclose outside bankruptcy.” This means users would have the right to receive priority reimbursement for their crypto assets, offering them a higher level of protection in the event of an exchange’s bankruptcy.Regarding this development, an official from the MOJ said that while the study is a fundamental legal review focused on exploring ways to protect users through the application of trusts for various cryptocurrency transactions, including those involving decentralized finance (DeFi), it is too early to provide specific details at this stage.