Conservative Party candidate Yoon Suk-Yeol, who pledged to deregulate the crypto industry in his election campaign, will become the next president of South Korea.
The election was one of the most close to head elections in the history of the country. According to the Associated Press, Yoon beat his rival Lee Jae-myung from the ruling Liberal Party by less than 1%.
Cryptocurrencies were one of the most discussed issues during the election. Both Yoon and Lee expressed that they are crypto friendly to win the elections.
Rising household debts and stagnant salaries in the country have led many young Koreans to enter the crypto industry. But the current government under President Moon Jae-In has cracked down on crypto. Tight regulatory changes resulted in the closure of around 70 Korean exchanges in 2021.
Yoon promised to deregulate the crypto industry during his election campaign. At a crypto conference in January, Yoon said that “far from the truth and unreasonable” regulations needed to be overhauled to “realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market.”
Yoon has also pledged to raise the proposed threshold for capital gains taxes to KRW 52.4 million (US$42,450) to boost cryptocurrency profits.
Yoon also promised to take legal action to confiscate illegally obtained crypto profits and return them to victims.
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