South Korea has been one of the countries that has decided to ban initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) from its territory. After China, South Korea has been taking different measures to regulate the cryptocurrency market. Apparently, the ban could end soon be lifted up.
ICO Ban Removal
According to The Korea Times, the financial authorities from the country are working in order to allow ICOs. Of course, there will not be a total permission, but certain rules will apply. This information has been circulating since the initial ban on ICOs. The government decided to ban them all so as to gather time to create better regulations. 
As reported by the local newspaper, an anonymous source that couldn’t speak to the media about the negotiations, explained that the financial authorities are working with other governmental agencies to end the ban.
“The financial authorities have been talking to the country’s tax agency, justice ministry and other relevant government offices about a plan to allow ICOs in Korea when certain conditions are met.”
One of the main differences with China and the ICO ban is that South Korea did not force companies to return the funds gathered through the ICO. Besides that, South Korean investors are able to place their money in Initial Coin Offerings that do not operate in the country.
The regulations that may apply are related to taxes and licenses. The ICOs that do not comply with these requirements, will not be able to operate.
“Various scenarios such as the imposition of value-added tax, a capital gains tax, or both on trade; and the collection of corporate tax from local cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as the initiation of authorized exchanges with licenses are being discussed,” commented the anonymous source.
During 2017, ICOs gathered over $4 billion dollars, and the trend could keep increasing during 2018. Countries from all over the world are trying to regulate this market. But Initial Coin Offerings are finding the way to avoid strict and hard regulations by moving overseas to more crypto-friendly countries.
