What is really going with Bitcoin and life in South Korea!

I have a contact on the ground in South Korea who send me emails about what is really going on in Korea. Today I thought I would share his latest words of wisdom. I am using this Steemit post as a topic for the video I will put on my Youtube channel later today. I am thinking about visiting South Korea in December and meeting up with this awesome man.

" New Cryptocurrency Exchange
Quite interesting you mentioned the article because I had a very quick phone call today with someone who actually works for an affiliate of the exchange operator “Dunamu”. “Dunamu” is a medium and small sized Korean Fintech company that runs an application called “Kakao Stock” which basically allows investors to make stock investments through their mobile phones. A big local company called “Kakao Daum” has an approximately 10% stake in the company.

Most Koreans use “Kakao-Talk” which is a mobile messenger application operated by “Kakao Daum” so the company has significant influence and power in the local social media scene. It also operates Korea’s second largest search engine/portal site and it also recently launched “Kakao-Bank” to compete with traditional commercial banks so Kakao is undoubtedly very big player here in Korea. But the friend I was talking to today said that actual involvement on the new cryptocurrency exchange by “Kakao Daum” is minimal and Kakao’s role as been somewhat exaggerated for publicity purposes.

The new exchange will be different from existing exchanges (Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone) in mainly two ways. First, as you mentioned in the show, the exchange claims that it will allow investors to invest in 111 altcoins. This is quite significant as existing exchanges typically provide a direct trading platform for about 6~8 cryptocurrencies only. Investors of microcap altcoins here in Korea typically use exchanges in US/China that provide microcap altcoins trading services or sites such as Exodus and/or Shapeshift. So investors no longer need to buy Bitcoins and then trade them with other microcap altcoins; they can purchase the altcoins directly from the new exchange.

Another difference is that “Dunamu” will be working with “BitGo” and “Bittrex” on security, wallet etc. I do not know of the specifics of this overseas collaboration but this is quite new as existing players are largely independent. So I am not sure whether this is a plus for Bitcoin. There are many ways to purchase and sell Bitcoins now here in Korea so, if anything, the new exchange may further encourage speculation of altcoins and ICOs in Korea.

I am not surprised by this development because personally I know several people (high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs, friends etc.) who have expressed real interest in opening and operating a cryptocurrency exchange. These exchanges are raking in millions of dollars every week and people want to be part of the action. Many have the capital but most do not have the knowledge, expertise and the right people to run an exchange.

What is interesting is that this comes after Korea’s financial regular, Financial Services Commission, recently released an approximately 10 page report on cryptocurrency regulation. No decisions have been made yet but it is quite clear from the report that the authorities badly want to regulate the market. As expected, a lot of negatives related to cryptocurrencies (scams, use by criminals, drug transaction etc.) are emphasized and thus the need for regulation. It also notes the recent SEC guidance on ICOs and points out that regulation generally is still very minimal in other countries. As I mentioned before, I don’t think we will see something as drastic and sudden as the recent China fiasco but Korea’s financial authority wants to regulate the market and they are very watchful of what is going on overseas especially in terms of regulation. Therefore, we expect a gradual roll out of regulation in Korea and what happens in major developed countries such as US, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong etc. will play a significant part in the decision.

North Korea Situation
As you may have heard, ordinary folks here in Korea do not pay much attention to what is going on with North Korea. Threats of war and nuclear attack has always been here so most are quite indifferent.

The only time I encounter genuinely worried faces are when I meet colleagues from our overseas offices (namely United States and Europe). When tensions run high, visits from our foreign colleagues are rarely cancelled so visiting Korea for a couple of days shouldn’t be much of a problem.

As for the probability of war, there is always a chance but the view of most Koreans is that the chance of war is very slim. From the North Korean dictator’s perspective it makes sense for him to secure nuclear weapons because his main objective is to maintain power and status quo. Recent history (Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Gadhafi) shows that if a dictator relinquishes his nuclear weapons, he will be killed. So as much as the dictator is an evil and awful human being, he is also acting in his own self-interest. In addition, he also knows that he will die instantly if and when he decides to launch a nuclear bomb as other countries will retaliate immediately. It is almost like watching Game Theory in action again.

So in a nutshell, I have not met a single Korean here who have expressed genuine concern and people here are generally very calm."

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