Cryptocurrency Traders in South Korea Face Fines For Virtual Accounts (yonhapnews.co.kr)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Cryptocurrency investors in South Korea will be fined for refusing to convert their virtual accounts into real-name ones, financial authorities said Sunday. The move comes as South Korea is scrambling to rein in the virtual currency frenzy in Asia's fourth-largest economy, including preparations for a bill to ban cryptocurrency exchanges at home. According to the authorities, cryptocurrency traders will be allowed to convert their virtual accounts into real-name ones within this month, but those who refuse to accede to real-name identification will face fines.

Comments

So many salty nerds

[Anonymous Coward]

99% of the anti-crypto-currency posts on here are from nerds that missed the boat and are pissed that their friends are paying off houses and driving fancy cars from small investments made just a couple years ago.

Even if you think that BTC/Crypto is a crazy tulip bubble, that doesn't change the fact that a $100 investment in eth a couple years ago would be worth $375k now.

There are still cheap coins with potential, there are still opportunities. Accept that you missed a couple boats, that doesn't mean you have to sit on your island and scream over the empty water.

Re:So many salty nerds

[Oswald McWeany]

There are still cheap coins with potential, there are still opportunities. Accept that you missed a couple boats, that doesn't mean you have to sit on your island and scream over the empty water.

Investing in the vast majority of crypto currency now would not be too wise. Bitcoin was the real breadwinner in the group, and whilst other coins have enjoyed appreciation of their value, they were being pulled up by the value of bitcoin. The days of making easy quick money in cryptocurrency is most likely over; they seem to have peaked now. They may go up again in spurts but overall, I think we've hit a plateau. Fantastic for those who invested a year or more ago; less fantastic for those joining in more recently.

The exception would be, if a currency came along that had some game changing philosophy or technological advancement. Such a coin might be worth investing in still; but most of the coins out there now are based on one of 3 or 4 methodologies.

Re: So many salty nerds

[Mr307]

Nothing was made.

Some gambled and won, most will lose.

Re:So many salty nerds

[dknj]

2006 housing bubble. same thing. when you see a bubble forming, hop on that shit. then hop off the gravy train when you realize suckers are getting in (mom and pop investors getting into BTC as example)

Resemblence to a pyramid scheme

[sjbe]

Not ponzi scheme since there is not once person at the top that gets all the money at any point.

Pyramid schemes don't have to have a single person at the top. Furthermore there IS a small group at the top, namely the folks who created bitcoin and did the early mining. They absolutely stand to profit massively from additional later people coming into the scheme who are unlikely to seem much if any profit.

Yes bitcoin has a LOT of the features of a pyramid scheme and multi-level marketing. Whether not it is actually a fraudulent activity the resemblance is uncanny.

Re:Bitcoin scam

[magzteel]

Not ponzi scheme since there is not once person at the top that gets all the money at any point. I don't think bitcoin is wise as investment, though mining I can see the point for the near term. Even so, it's like a futures market more than anything else.

I think cryptocoins are neither currencies nor commodities. To me they look like collectibles with the "scarcity" built into the design . They could be baseball cards, comic books, beanie babies, whatever. One advantage they have though is better liquidity than other collectibles.

Re: Bitcoin scam

[DontBeAMoran]

Add on top of that, the current method for verifying transactions won't be necessary much longer and things are about to get much more efficient (100x).

Is there another BTC fork planned? Will it be approved by everyone, including the Bitcoin Core team? Will the mining farms switch to it, will they have any choice?

Re:Bitcoin scam

[DontBeAMoran]

The only collectibles with excellent liquidity are wines.

Re:Wrong move South Korea

[Anonymous Coward]

This article is not about banning crypto, it's about fining traders who don't convert their virtual accounts into real-name accounts. I'm surprised it took the Korean gov't this long, what with their real name requirements for general internet use.