South Korea’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission unveiled that members of the country’s National Assembly engaged in cryptocurrency. According to a recent investigation, the total transactions traded nearly $100 million over three years. This revelation follows an extensive three-month scrutiny of digital asset trades made by the 298 current members of the parliament between May 2020 and May 2023.
The comprehensive probe discovered that 18 of the 298 legislators had been active in the crypto market. Interestingly, the lion’s share of the trading volume, nearly $97.6 million (125.6 billion Korean won), was dominated by just 11 lawmakers.
The report highlighted Bitcoin as the preferred choice among South Korean legislators, with their portfolios featuring a diverse array of over 100 different cryptocurrencies, including the likes of Bitcoin. This preference aligns with global trends where Bitcoin remains a primary choice for many investors.
See Related: South Korea Mandates Exchanges To Pay Crypto Interest On Customer Deposits
Mandatory Disclosure Law
After a scandal in May 2023 when a member of the local Democratic Party came under fire for undeclared holdings of at least $4.5 million in Wemix (WEMIX) tokens, the South Korean government voted unanimously to oblige civil servants’ mandatory disclosure of crypto assets.
Starting in 2024, approximately 6,000 government officials will be required to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings. This will be facilitated through the Public Official Ethics System. Additionally, five major South Korean crypto exchanges – Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax – are set to introduce new systems to ease the process of registering information about crypto holdings.