Korean Lawyers Take Government to Court over Crypto Regulation

A law firm from Seoul has decided to address arbitrary measures taken by authorities to regulate cryptocurrency trade. Korean lawyers have filed an appeal accusing their government of “unconstitutional” infringement on property rights. Newly imposed rules are devaluing virtual currencies, they say.

Also read: Koreans Deposited 64 Times More Fiat Into Crypto Exchanges in 2017

Order! Constitutional Court to Decide
Anguk Law Offices filed their appeal through the Constitutional Court’s online system at the end of December, The Korean Times reports. Regulating the trade of cryptocurrencies through administrative guidance has no legal grounds, its justification reads. “We agree that regulations are necessary. But they should come after related laws are implemented”, lawyer Jeong Hee-chan said, quoted by the newspaper. Jeong and his colleagues also called for the government to respect the property rights of its citizens and regulate only after reaching a social consensus.

The Seoul-based firm believes ministers are exerting “unconstitutional” authority through regulations on cryptocurrency trade introduced last month. The measures were meant to control Korea’s coin trading frenzy in a year that saw Bitcoin reaching $20,000 USD. The south of the divided peninsula is a major cryptocurrency hub hosting large-scale exchange operations.

The recent market explosion presented new challenges to Korean authorities and they attempted to dampen crypto markets. The government discussed measures to deal with growing cryptocurrency speculation and local exchanges were forced to revise policies in order to comply with new regulation. A system to enforce identity verification of cryptocurrency traders should be implemented around January 20, preventing anonymous trading.