South Korea Finance Officials to Meet Crypto Exchanges

South Korea's senior finance officials are reportedly scheduled to meet major cryptocurrency exchanges on Tuesday, according to Cointelegraph, as political pressure and industry pushback intensify against a planned digital asset tax implementation set for January.

Government and Industry Representation

According to Yonhap, the upcoming consultation will include representatives from major domestic crypto exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX, and Gopax. Executives from the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance, known as DAXA, are also slated to attend the discussions.

Government officials participating in the meeting include Kwon Dae-young, first vice minister of finance and economy, and Yoo Young-jun, director general for digital financial policy at the Financial Services Commission.

Delayed Implementation Concerns

South Korean regulators have already delayed the crypto tax three times. The most recent postponement pushed the scheduled start date to 2027 amid ongoing political disagreements and industry concerns regarding infrastructure readiness and threshold levels.

An exchange official told Yonhap that unresolved transaction rules and limited preparation time support a further delay. "Standards for different transaction types have not yet been finalized, and time is running short for practical preparations on the infrastructure side," the official said, adding that there is a shared view in favor of postponing the tax.

On Friday, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Min-gyu introduced legislation seeking to push the tax start date back two years. The proposed bill aims to delay implementation until Jan. 1 of the second year after South Korea begins sharing data under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. With the first exchange expected in 2027, taxation under this bill would not begin until 2029.

Key facts

• South Korean finance officials are scheduled to meet major crypto exchanges on Tuesday.
• Representatives from Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX, Gopax, and DAXA are expected to attend.
• Government attendees include Kwon Dae-young and Yoo Young-jun.
• Lawmaker Park Min-gyu introduced a bill on Friday to delay the crypto tax start date by two years.