The South Korean financial watchdog said it will ban privacy coins linked to exchanges it oversees such as Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XMR), and Dash (DASH). The aim is to reduce and manage the risk of money laundering using digital assets. Under the new rules, virtual asset service providers in South Korea are requested to stop any privacy-oriented transactions, along with creating a confirmation of customers’ real names based on personal data. Exchanges are required to submit a report regarding their activities within six months of the legislation’s implementation. South Korea follows the USA in pushing for greater transparency in the crypto sphere, with even more strict KYC requirements.
Why it matters: There is a growing movement by governments to control privacy focused tokens. Despite the fact that recent research shows that FACTA has done little to stop the Western financial system from being used to launder a the vast majority of the money globally, governments are making it more difficult to use privacy-oriented tokens. This is, of course, doomed to failure, as anyone who wants to trade in banned tokens can do it on an exchange that allows them to be listed. Governments will find it increasingly difficult to ban tokens they don't like, as a global ban on a token will be next to impossible to enforce.
