South Korea's Position on Crypto After Presidential Election

Yoon Suk-yeol, the conservative, crypto-positive candidate, has won the South Korean presidential election. During the campaign, he pledged to deregulate the crypto sector in South Korea, and even included the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a part of the campaign strategies from both parties. 

In January, Suk-yeol declared that "we must overhaul regulations that are far from reality and unreasonable" during a campaign event in Seoul. 

He mentions that there must be a shift from a currently highly regulated crypto sector, to a less regulated system to ensure that the virtual asset market is accessible to citizens. Among the specific proposals was easing tax requirements on crypto investment profits.

Finding those who have a strong interest in cryptocurrencies was a move was primarily aimed at gaining the votes of 20 and 30-year-old voters.

The election was one of the closest elections in South Korean history, as the conservative Suk-yeol pulled out ahead by less than 1%. This was likely due to both candidates being widely unpopular choices.