People's Daily Online: Virtual currency transactions in South Korea continue to heat up, and young people are addicted to the "cryptocurrency circle"

People's Daily Online, Seoul, June 11 (People's Daily Online) - The Financial Services Commission of South Korea said that the total transaction volume of virtual currencies in the first quarter of this year has exceeded that of the whole of last year. It is reported that there are more than 10 major virtual currency trading platforms in South Korea, but only four of them require real-name transactions. The total number of accounts on these four trading platforms currently exceeds 2.5 million, of which more than half were registered at the end of last year, when the market value of multiple virtual currencies including Bitcoin was skyrocketing.
According to data from South Korea's financial sector, a considerable number of players in the "cryptocurrency circle" are young people in their twenties and thirties who use virtual currency as a way to get rich quickly.
A survey of 1,750 college students conducted by a job search app in South Korea showed that one in four students buys and sells virtual currencies for the purpose of "investment." 51% of investors believe that the returns of virtual currencies are higher than traditional investment methods such as stocks and funds, and even if the risks are greater, it is still worth trying.
Virtual currencies can be traded 24 hours a day with no limit on price fluctuations, which can easily lead people to become addicted to trading. The Korean Gambling Problem Management Center said that in the first quarter of this year, it received 1,362 consultations related to addiction to trading virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, a nearly two-fold increase year-on-year. More than half of them were college students or working professionals in their twenties or thirties.
An employee working at a South Korean Internet company said in an interview with a reporter that since the end of last year, colleagues in the company have been discussing virtual currencies every day, and even constantly checking prices during working hours. He was not interested in these things, but people around him frequently mentioned that "it has increased many times" and "the returns are particularly high", so he now wants to try it. The mentality of following the trend of investment is also one of the main reasons for the overheating of virtual currency investment in South Korea. In addition to the workplace, the "side effects" brought about by the craze for virtual currencies have also spread to the families of traders. A divorce lawyer said that since the beginning of this year, the number of divorce consultations related to virtual currency investment addiction has risen rapidly, and 40% of divorce cases are caused by spouses being addicted to earning "virtual property", affecting normal family life.

South Korean office workers check information related to virtual currencies. Photo by Cao Xiangyu An expert from the Korean Gambling Problem Management Center said that borrowing money to invest in virtual currencies or hiding investments from people around you are symptoms of "addiction" and need to be treated in a timely manner.
As virtual currency transactions continue to heat up, more and more people are calling on the South Korean government to further legislate to restrict and regulate this trading activity. According to Korean media reports, the South Korean government will impose a 20% income tax on virtual asset trading income next year. At the same time, the South Korean government will crack down on a series of illegal activities involving virtual currency, such as money laundering and contraband transactions.