During his campaign, Yoon promised to deregulate the crypto industry. At a crypto conference in January, Yoon said regulations “that are far from reality and unreasonable” must be overhauled in order to “realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market.”
Yoon expressed his desire to attract and develop crypto “unicorns” – startup businesses valued at $1 billion or more.
Yoon also pledged to raise the proposed threshold for capital gains taxes to kick in on cryptocurrency profits to KRW 52.4 million (US$42,450). Starting in 2023, a 20% tax is to be levied on crypto gains above KRW 2.5 million ($2,024) earned in under a year.
Yoon has also promised to "take legal measures to confiscate crypto profits gained through illegitimate means and return them to the victims.”
Some of South Korea’s biggest companies in the entertainment and gaming sector have indicated an interest in crypto, pledging during their annual shareholder meetings to create non-fungible tokens (NFT) or play-to-earn games.
Lee, the runner-up, focused his efforts on courting those gaming companies. He set up a gaming and metaverse task force and promised to make the country a crypto hub. Lee also released his own NFTs and said he would accept campaign donations in crypto.
