South Korea Has No Plans to Ban Crypto Exchanges

News and Opinions: South Korea Won’t Ban Exchanges After Saying it Will; Illegal Trades Uncovered: Welcome to Crypto

According to Reuters, South Korea’s finance minister has stated that the government has no plans to shut down cryptocurrency exchanges or ban cryptocurrency trading.^[1]

This is good news, as some earlier news about South Korean bans was one of the events that caused the current crypto correction.

First, we heard that South Korea planned to regulate the worst practices of crypto (something they are actively doing, they also recently uncovered illegal cryptocurrency foreign exchange trading worth nearly $600 million and are cracking down on that). Then we heard about South Korean exchanges being raided and potentially banned. Then it changed to exchanges being taxed (like other businesses). Now we hear, “nope, no plans to ban anything, just some regulation.”

While its true that their Ministry of Justice (who led the raids) and Ministry of Finance (who say there is no ban) don’t fully seem to be on the same page, it does none-the-less almost seem to be a full circle there.

It is almost like those weeks of fear, uncertainty, and doubt that contributed to the crypto correction were, dare I say it, unnecessary.

Thus, it seems more like interest rate hikes curbing a-little-too-bullish-for-its-own-good stock market than it feels like a bubble popping for natural reasons.

Anyway, how we got here isn’t the point. The point is here we are. The news went from good to bad, and back to good again. And the resulting correction was arguably healthy if not fully natural (the correction wasn’t just about South Korea, that news was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back).

Possibly the next thing you know, we’ll find out that Tether is fine and Bitcoin Cash isn’t the real Bitcoin but instead is just a fine fork and a great coin in its own right. We could fins that demand for crypto is still high and that Bitcoin, Ether, and Ripple are all going to have a good 2018.

That is how it was back in September after the news of the China ban. With that in mind, in light of this news, let’s not forget lessons of the past.

When Dimon or Buffet warns of a bubble, when China or South Korea announces a potential ban, when Bitcoin Cash or Tether drama arises, it may or may not signal an impending correction. However, if it does signal a correction, it very likely does not indicate that the end has come.

It is true that illegal trades and manipulation in the crypto space that drive the price up aren’t ideal; that they can create unnecessary volatility.

However, legal FUD spreading from Dimons, Buffets, states, media, and altcoin critics often have an equal and opposite effect.

When a coin goes up because of some whale of one sort, and then down from some other whale of another sort, it makes it hard to pick heroes and villains. Instead, it feels like the push and pull we see on any asset, especially in the tech space. We see this same sort of push and pull with FANG stocks, just not to the same degree. FANG and BEAR (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ada, Ripple) have something else in common too. They seem to be the future, and no amount of FUD can stop that.

READ THE FULL STORY: South Korea says no plans to ban cryptocurrency exchanges, uncovers $600 million illegal trades.

1. South Korea says no plans to ban cryptocurrency exchanges, uncovers $600 million illegal trades. Reuters.com.