South Korean Official Responsible For Regulating Cryptocurrencies Found Dead
Head of the Economic Policy Coordination Office dies of heart attack
© press
A South Korean government official responsible regulating Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has been found dead according to reports.
Jung Ki-joon, 52, was head of the Economic Policy Coordination Office, was found at his home in Seoul after having died suddenly of a suspected heart attack.
Jung Ki-joon's body was found by his family when they went to wake him up on Sunday morning, authorities are yet to determine what the exact cause of death was as investigators wait for a report from the coroner’s office.
Jung Ki-joon was responsible for leading the South Korean government’s recent crackdown until January 2018 when S Korea introduced a host of new legislation designed to regulate cryptocurrencies.
CoinThud reports: The country implemented a ban on anonymous trading aimed at reducing possible criminal activity. Mr. Jung’s role was to coordinate the opinions on cryptocurrency regulations from different ministries and departments within the government.
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
The value of Bitcoin and most other cryptos plummeted as concerns about stricter regulations spread.
The leading virtual currency’s value hit an all-time high of $19,535.70 on December 17 last year.
It then fell to as low as just $10,035 on January 30, however, before plummeting to under $6000 in early February.
Values have since recovered, although the price drop was mainly attributed to the South Korean regulation fears.
Jung Ki-joon's proposed measures were cited as the reason for the drop in prices for BitcoinJung Ki-joon’s proposed measures were cited as the reason for the drop in prices for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's rebound continues after South Korea signals it will support "normal" cryptocurrency trading https://t.co/rRKTR36i7W pic.twitter.com/34cyxEJhp2
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) February 20, 2018
Controversial measures
Mr. Jung admitted, in a controversial announcement, that the government was considering a law to shut down all the nation’s cryptocurrency exchanges.
In a statement to the press, he said:
“The proposed shutdown of exchanges that the justice minister mentioned recently is one of the measures suggested by the justice ministry to curb speculation.”
Officials within the South Korean government announced towards the end of last year that they would undergo an extended period of consideration.
They said they wanted to assess the perceived threats that digital assets could pose to national economic stability.
Jung Ki-joon colleagues have claimed that stress may have been a contributing factor to his death, according to reports.
South Korea is one of the first countries to introduce regulations for cryptocurrencies.
These new measures prompted fears that other countries would follow suit.
Regulation fears have since subsided, however, and cryptos have seen a healthy recovery in the last week.
