South Korea’s presidential candidate from the Conservative side, Yoon Suk-yeol, has officially registered victory in the presidential election of the country.
The election is being dubbed as one of the closest in South Korean history that witnessed Yoon from the conservative People Power Party, claim victory over his politically progressive opponent, Lee Jae-myung, by a less than 1% margin.
As per local media, cryptocurrencies played a leading role in South Korea’s election campaigns as both candidates started out by releasing campaign-related NFTs. Further, their crypto-sympathetic stances were in exact opposition to former-President Moon Jae-In’s massive crackdown on crypto exchanges the previous. The crypto sentiments of both candidates have been fruitful in currying favor among the younger, tech-savvy and crypto enthusiastic demographic.
Addressing a virtual asset forum in January 2022, Yoon had promised to deregulate South Korea’s crypto industry, thus establishing his pro-crypto stance. He had said his vision was to “realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market,” and that he would work collectively with the public to overhaul regulations “that are far from reality and unreasonable.”
Discussing his plans for crypto-positive developments during his election campaign, Yoon had also stated that he wanted to help create blockchain-tech related “unicorns” in South Korea.
Yoon had also promised his audience that he would work on the introduction of some form of legislation that would oversee crypto profits gained from illicit activities, extending assistance for returning the sum to its victims.
What seems like a closely related development, the cryptocurrency Icon (ICX), which is the native token of the South Korean ICON blockchain, has witnessed a surge of 60 per cent in the last 12 hours. Yoon had famously minted his signature on the blockchain during a televised start-up forum in December 2021.
Regulation concerning crypto has been a common ground among South Korean politicians, with strict rulings seeing the chunk of South Korea’s crypto exchanges shut down in September 2021. Distinguished lack of legislative clarity surrounding taxation of digital assets has also been a continued source of confusion for citizens and legislative bodies in the country.
Cryptocurrency is slowly gaining popularity among young South Koreans. According to reports from local media outlets, young people have been desperately leaving their jobs in order to pursue day-trading cryptocurrencies.
South Korea’s traditional stock market, on the other hand, is dominated by four family-owned conglomerates famous as “chaebols.”Citizens believe them to be corrupt and politically influential, thus supporting the common public’s interest in crypto investments.
Before the major crackdown on crypto exchanges had been initiated in September last year, trading volumes on South Korean top exchanges had exceeded those of the stock market.
