South Korea’s Crypto Committee Hits Snooze Button – Strict Rules Coming!

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Remember that super cool Virtual Assets Committee (VAC) South Korea launched a year ago to “regulate” the crypto world? Yeah, it’s basically gone ghost. No meetings since May. But who needs meetings when you can just, like, not do your job, right?

  • South Korea wants to impose strict liability rules on crypto exchanges. Basically, they’re gonna make them pay back users for losses, no questions asked. Thanks, hacks.
  • The new rules would make exchanges compensate users even if they didn’t do anything wrong. Just like how high-risk industries do it. Except, uh, crypto wasn’t really invited to that party before.
  • In other news: The VAC is officially on vacation, probably because President Yoon Suk-yeol got impeached. Cue new guy Lee Jae-myung, who’s all about “let’s work with the Financial Services Commission” instead.

South Korea’s Kookmin Ilbo is all over this story, reporting that the government has decided the stock market is more fun than crypto deregulation these days. Who knew?

With the VAC becoming as active as a sleep-deprived sloth, Lee Jae-myung’s administration seems to have totally forgotten about it. Now it’s all about teamwork between lawmakers and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) while the VAC takes its sweet time.

Oh, and that cool plan to let stock-market-listed companies buy crypto by 2025? Yeah, it’s looking like that might be… uh… “ambitious.” Maybe they’ll just focus on buying stocks instead. 🤑

South Korea: New rules and regs

But don’t worry, there’s still some action happening in the world of crypto rules! South Korean regulators have decided that crypto exchanges should totally pay users back for any losses due to hacks, even if they didn’t mess up themselves. Because why not? (Especially after Upbit got hacked.)

The FSC (Financial Services Commission) confirmed they’re all about the new legislation to protect investors. The strict liability rule means exchanges can no longer hide behind “well, it’s not our fault!”-they’ll just have to pay up. Sounds like a fun time for the crypto industry!

This “strict liability” thing means that users don’t have to prove anyone did anything wrong to get their money back. It’s like a get-out-of-jail-free card for crypto victims. ✨

It’s a rule that’s already applied to other high-risk industries, like car accidents and unsafe factories. Apparently, crypto was just waiting for its turn to join the club. ⏳

The new framework says exchanges must meet the same standards as traditional banks-secure systems, solid infrastructure, and an actual tech team. Who knew that was a thing? You’d think crypto companies could afford that by now, right?

Regulators were pretty shaken when they found out just how many cyber incidents were happening-like, a lot. Between 2023 and September 2025, there were 20 major cyber events affecting over 900 users across five major exchanges. So, Upbit didn’t exactly get off easy with its 616 hacked users. 🎯

The Upbit hack? That was a classic one: a 54-minute spree where tons of Solana-based coins disappeared into the abyss. Classic, right? Talk about a crypto crisis.

But no one could really do anything under the current Virtual Asset User Protection Act. So, yeah, expect new rules that’ll force crypto exchanges to behave more like banks and less like a hacker’s playground.

The penalties for messing up? Oh, they’re getting juicy-up to 3% of a company’s annual turnover. So, you know, time to really think about securing those wallets.

The word on the street is that this new law will get pushed through faster than you can say “blockchain,” and exchanges are already freaking out, adjusting their strategies to dodge those sweet, sweet fines. 😜

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2025-12-09 03:31