Autor Cointelegraph By Kurt Ivy

South Korea ramps up crypto investigations and regulations

On Friday, June 3, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) began an investigation into payment gateway services that work with digital assets. The FSS is South Korea’s financial regulator that operates under the Financial Services Commission (FSC), both of which are government institutions.As reported by local news outlet Money Today Co., the FSS had recently demanded reports from 157 payment gateways about any service related to crypto, their plans for the future, and disclosure of digital assets. But an FSS report stated that only 6 held any digital assets. Related: How Terra’s collapse will impact future stablecoin regulationsAlthough the FSS is currently the primary financial regulator, on May 31st, 2022, South Korea announced the upcoming launch of the Digital Assets Committee. According to the announcement, this is a temporary solution to bring structure to the virtual asset industry following the Luna-Terra crash.Per the announcement, the guidelines include screening criteria for newly-listed assets, market monitoring, trade monitoring, a level of disclosure, and other investor protections. The five major exchanges in the country appear to agree on the standards and have formed their own committee to help prevent another incident similar to Terra (LUNA). Soon after the FSS began its investigation, it announced a remote meeting with other financial supervisory authorities from five countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This event was hosted by the Indonesian Financial Supervisory Service and included Australia, China, and Japan as well. The meeting covered global market conditions as well as big tech and crypto. The Korean representative mentioned the need for cryptocurrency regulation, disciplinary action around virtual assets, and the expansion of financial regulatory frameworks.The incoming crypto committee in South Korea will steer policy recommendations and enforce investor protections ahead of the enactment of a Digital Asset Basic Act (DABA) https://t.co/zhAmTH5JU2 pic.twitter.com/pBE9qSbLbP— Decrypt (@decryptmedia) June 1, 2022On Tuesday, May 24th, 2022, South Korean officials opened an investigation against Do Kwon, the primary figure in the Luna incident. Yoon Chang-Hyeon, the chairman of the People’s Strength Virtual Assets Special Committee who had met with the top exchanges in response, will lead the Digital Assets Committee mentioned above.

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Former product manager at OpenSea charged with insider trading

On Wednesday, United States prosecutors in Manhattan charged Nathaniel Chastain, 31, with insider trading. Chastain is a former product manager at OpenSea, the largest nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace. This will be the first case of its kind regarding digital assets and traditional criminal investigations. Former employee of NFT marketplace charged in first ever digital asset insider trading schemehttps://t.co/Q8C8btS743— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) June 1, 2022Prosecutors claim that Chastain bought 45 NFTs through anonymous hot wallets and anonymous accounts on OpenSea and then sold them for a profit shortly after. He allegedly bought them shortly before they were featured on the OpenSea marketplace homepage and sold them for a profit right after. As the product manager, it would have been in his power to choose which NFTs were featured, giving him direct access to the insider information that he, himself, created. Related: What is front-running in crypto and NFT trading?Included in the claim of 11 separate trades was the NFT called “Spectrum of a Ramenfication Theory” on Sept. 14, 2021, which would have been sold the next morning for almost four times the buying price. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams commented on his office’s commitment to follow up on insider trading in all of its forms. Chastain was charged with money laundering as well as wire fraud. Both charges carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence. OpenSea claims to have learned about Chastain’s activities, opened up an investigation and asked him to leave when it was clear that he had violated company policy. Soon after, Chastain quit voluntarily and began working on his own project, Oval.Hey @opensea why does it appear @natechastain has a few secret wallets that appears to buy your front page drops before they are listed, then sells them shortly after the front-page-hype spike for profits, and then tumbles them back to his main wallet with his punk on it?— 0xZuwu.eth (@0xZuwu) September 14, 2021

Recently, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded to similar allegations of insider trading. The individuals involved could have been either connected to Coinbase or employees. Although Armstrong did not confirm any disciplinary actions or criminal charges toward his employees, he did say that Coinbase was planning to revise its listing process soon to prevent it from happening.

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South Korean police request exchanges freeze LFG related funds

Crypto exchanges in South Korea have been issued notices from police requesting the sequestering of funds related to the Luna Foundation Guard. On May 23rd, 2022, Korean authorities sent a request to the top crypto exchanges in the country to prevent funds from being withdrawn. Specifically, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency asked to prohibit the Luna Foundation Guard from taking any action. The police claim that clues have been found that may link the organization to embezzlement.The Luna/Terra algorithmic stablecoin crash, which reduced the value of the coin by over 99%, crushed investor portfolios overnight earlier this month.However, this request is not a demand and is not enforceable by law. Each exchange can choose how they would like to respond, but it is not yet known how they will react. Several prominent Korean investors requested that Do Kwon, CEO of Terraform Labs, be investigated and sued for the collapse of the UST stablecoin. This triggered the revival of the “Grim Reaper,” a Korean Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team. Korean legislators have gone as far as meeting with executives from each of these exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. Because they are not required to comply, this meeting is likely a move to put pressure on the heads of these exchanges.According to Newspim, Yoon Chang-Hyeon, chairman of the People’s Strength Virtual Assets Special Committee, said on Facebook, “We will check the exchange’s investor protection measures.”Related: Terra crash not a risk to the broader crypto ecosystem, says Huobi Global co-founderIt is reasonable to expect that the representatives from the exchanges will be held accountable, in some way, for the damage caused to investors by the LUNA crash, reported the outlet. Newspim also reported that the Korean National Assembly is taking the initiative to regulate punishment in this matter. Two of the exchanges had already issued warnings on their websites, Coinone has already halted the trade of LUNA as of May 11th, and Binance had also suspended some spot trading.Although this official report joins the broader developing story, the request to the crypto exchanges and the Do Kwon investigation are not linked. The actions by the National Assembly and the Korean authorities make it clear that Korea is willing to take the necessary steps to get to the bottom of the Terra ecosystem collapse imbroglio.

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