South Korea Bans Crypto Charity Donations
New South Korean donation laws blocked crypto despite the country’s significant inclination toward cryptocurrencies.
In South Korea, the cryptocurrency market is sizable, yet stringent regulations have enabled domestic companies to uphold their dominance over foreign counterparts. Over the past few years, only a few crypto firms have been permitted to offer crypto-to-fiat services within the country.
On 5 May 2024, South Korea’s Ministry of Public Administration revised the “Donations Act,”. Under the revised rules & laws, the use of cryptocurrencies for donation to charity purposes will not be allowed.
This Act was initially designed in 2007 & at that time people were not widely using smartphones. So the revised donation act was focussed on the digital world.
It is sad to see that they added store gift vouchers, stocks, and loyalty points from tech giants as an option to be donated to charities, but not crypto.
It is worth it to note that more than 10% of the Korean population invests in cryptocurrencies and also the ruling government is crypto-friendly but still, the Ministry didn’t provide reasoning for excluding digital asset donations.
Now it will be interesting to see the response action by the crypto advocates of this country, against this crypto hate decision.
According to a report by TheGivingBlock, as of January 2024, people around the world have donated over $2 billion using cryptocurrency.
Notably more than 50% of charities in the US started accepting Bitcoin & crypto payments, showing a high degree of inclination toward the crypto sector despite unclear regulatory rules & laws in their jurisdiction.
To get crypto public support during the elections in April, the country’s democratic party promised to ease access to US Bitcoin spot ETF products in the country.
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