South Korea has stopped short of allowing updated crypto donation laws
Digital currencies have been excluded from South Korea's newly revised donation law, which could hurt the country's charities and donation drives.
On May 5, local media Kyungyang Shinmun reported that the Ministry of Public Administration had proposed some amendments to South Korea's “donation law” but limited it to donating crypto assets.
Starting in July, those looking to donate to charities or causes will be able to use a variety of new methods, such as department store gift vouchers, stocks, and Korean internet giant Naver's loyalty points, but not crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC).
The Law on Collection and Use of Donated Goods was first issued in 2011. It was in 2006 when there were few payment methods and smartphones were not widespread.
Donation methods have expanded from bank transfers and online methods to include automated response systems, postal services and logistics services.
The ministry did not provide a reason for excluding digital asset donations despite their popularity in South Korea, but the law allows donations in local government-issued, KRW-pegged stablecoins and blockchain-issued gift vouchers.
As of January 2024, more than $2 billion is estimated to have been donated globally using cryptocurrency, a market that local charities are not allowed to tap into, according to TheGivingBlock.
Meanwhile, across the pond, it was recently reported that more than half of US charities accept donations in digital assets.
Related: Blockchain Improves Charity Transparency – But Is It Right For Everyone?
In late April, it was reported that South Korea was planning to introduce a temporary crypto-crime investigation unit into the official department to deal with crypto-related crimes and financial fraud.
In related news, Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com is struggling to enter the South Korean market due to out-of-control issues.
In April, Cointelegraph reported that South Korean authorities discovered problems related to anti-money laundering (AML) in the data provided by the exchange and launched a “surprise inspection of the site” to monitor its activities.
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