Headline:
Body: So, the cryptocurrency battles within the U.S. have seemed operatic enough. There are large companies involved, large banks going under, and a large variety of celebrities of all types involved. Should we be at all surprised that this is happening in other developed nations, like South Korea? Probably not, but, let’s tempt fate and engage in just a bit of schadenfreude, shall we?
In a nutshell, what happened?
South Korea has its own financial regulators, and it seems that a lawmaker has engaged in a series of transactions that evidence a potential conflict of interest. One lawmaker, Kim Nam-kuk allegedly withdrew about $4.5 million of tokens over a month long period. This would violate the “travel rule” and require disclosure of this transaction series to the authorities, but for the fact that the “travel rule” was added just after the withdrawals. The financial Services Commission enforcement unit was notified.
When approached, the lawmaker opined that there was no reporting requirement for virtual asset transactions within the Ethics Act they have to follow. What made this, shall we say “interesting”, is that Kim just co-sponsored an amendment to their Tax Code which would defer taxation on gains from transactions within virtual assets.
The Verdict
As interesting as all of this is (to me, at least) I do have to report something of an observation. When reporting on this, I went to several trustworthy sources, and I found an unnaturally similar tone, structure and even phraseology to many of the articles. This reminded me of another issue I have read about, that sometimes media outlets overly depend upon press releases. In a roiling marketplace of ideas, there is an immense pressure to publish first, and sometimes, shortcuts are taken. In these cases, whole sections of the release are woven into the articles with paltry attention paid to doing extra reporting work. I’m not saying that this necessarily happened here, but, I do detect a familiar scent in many of the articles. So, “let the buyer beware” even (and especially) when getting your news and information. Said another way, don’t believe EVERYTHING you read on the Internet.
REFERENCES
South Korean Lawmaker Under Investigation for Crypto Transaction (cryptotimes.io)
Editor’s Note: Please note that the information contained herein is meant only for general education: This should not be construed as Tax Advice. Personal attributes could make a material difference in the advice given, so, before taking action, please consult your tax advisor or CPA.