South Korea will ban the use of anonymous bank accounts in cryptocurrency trading from Jan. 30, regulators said on Tuesday.
It is a widely telegraphed move designed to stop virtual coins from being used for money laundering and other crimes.
Local cryptocurrency traders will not be allowed to make deposits into their virtual currency exchange wallets unless the names on their bank accounts matches the account name in cryptocurrency exchanges, Kim Yong-beom, the Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission told a news conference in Seoul.
Tuesday’s announcement follows a string of warnings from global policy makers about cryptocurrency trading, including those from South Korea’s chief financial regulator last week who said the government might consider shutting down domestic virtual currency exchanges.
The regulator has previously said it would come up with detailed guidelines for local banks to properly identify its clients by their real names in cryptocurrency transactions.
To make deposits into virtual coin wallets, cryptocurrency traders will need to identify themselves with their real names at the exchange and have those matched with information at local banks by Jan. 30.
According to Bithumb, the country’s second-largest virtual currency exchange, the bitcoin price in South Korea was down 4.35 per cent at $12,567 (8,987.34 pounds) from previous day as of 0214 GMT on Tuesday.
Bitcoin is trading up 3.7 per cent at 10,750 dollars on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.