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Korean financial authority to heighten oversight on token listing with new guidelines

Policy & Regulation·March 27, 2024, 7:33 AM

The South Korean financial authority will establish new policies and guidelines for token listing and provide admirable examples from past listing events for local exchanges to follow, according to local media outlet News1

 

So far, fiat-to-crypto exchanges in Korea have been listing tokens on their platforms under a guideline issued by Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) – a self-regulatory consultation group comprised of five major Korean crypto exchanges. The existing DAXA guideline outlines basic yet vague instructions, which have allowed exchanges to list tokens largely at their discretion. 

 

However, the new guideline from the financial authority, expected to be released by this June, will mark the government’s first official manual on token listing. This is in line with the upcoming Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which will be effective in July. 

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Photo by Hitesh Choudhary on Unsplash

Setting clear guidelines for token listings

The new guidelines are expected to include examples of past fraud detection and real-time monitoring cases which are deemed to have set precedents for the industry players. Moreover, the financial authority plans to distribute past exemplary cases of token listing as early as April, which is anticipated to set a model listing process and help local crypto exchanges adhere to the law and requirements. 

 

This announcement comes after the local game company Wemade relisted its native token WEMIX on Korbit, one of DAXA's member exchanges, just a year after it was delisted on major exchanges due to its deviant practices in token issuance. The relisting of WEMIX has since raised concerns among crypto insiders about the lack of criteria regarding token listings.

 

More refined token listing process 

As the crypto market's bullish trend continues, Bithumb and Coinone – the second and third-largest exchanges in Korea – are stepping up their efforts to speed up the listing of new coins. Industry experts expect these exchanges will double down on their efforts in screening and reviewing processes for tokens to align with the new guidelines in the future. 

 

An official from the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) said that while the anticipated listing process is not legally binding, it will definitely have a more profound impact on local crypto exchanges compared to the self-regulated DAXA guidelines. 

 

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