S.Korea bans trading of Bitcoin among certain people, financial institutions

SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean government on Wednesday banned the trading of Bitcoin among certain types to people to prevent speculative investment in the cryptocurrency and prohibit it from being used in criminal purposes.

The government held a meeting of vice ministerial-level officials to announce a set of measures to prevent ordinary people from recklessly investing in the cryptocurrency.

According to the new measures, investors in Bitcoin will be required to identify themselves when putting money in and out of their bank accounts necessary to trade the virtual currency.

Those under age and non-residents staying abroad will be banned from opening a Bitcoin account and trading it.

Financial institutions will be prohibited from holding, purchasing and investing in the cryptocurrency to block institutional investment from stimulating speculative investment among individuals.

Those measures are required to be submitted to the National Assembly in order to enact and implement them.

The government has planned to form a task force team with experts in the private sector to review whether to impose taxes on the return from Bitcoin transactions.

Police and prosecutors will strictly crack down on illegal Bitcoin transactions that can be used in crimes and money laundering. Enditem