South Korean government works on new blockchain classification standards

The South Korean government is working on new industry classification standards for the domestic blockchain sector, industry website Cointelegraph has reported, citing information from the local media.

According to a Thursday report from South Korean media outlet The BChain, three ministries - the National Statistical Office, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Information and Communication – have been working on the final draft of a new blockchain industry classification scheme since the end of June. The ministries are aiming to complete the draft by the end of this month.

The report says that the scheme will serve as a basis for policy making aimed at “blockchain promotion and regulatory frameworks”. It covers a number of areas, including the blockchain systems construction, decentralised applications development and cryptocurrency exchanges and transactions.

The draft also proposes a new definition for domestic crypto exchanges that “recognizes crypto exchanges as regulated financial institutions”, rather than “communication vendors”, as they are currently defined.

According to The BChain, the move marks the first time the Korean government has recognised the blockchain sector as a legitimate industry.

The report further states that the government has subdivided the scheme into three sectors, with ten further subdivisions under the guidance of the Korean Standard Industrial Classification.

These subdivisions cover blockchain-powered infrastructure for decentralised apps, such as Ethereum and EOS, blockchain-based cloud computing and cryptocurrency mining.

South Korea is not the only country that is considering changing the way it regulates the sector. Earlier this week it was reported that Japan’s financial watchdog was considering whether to regulate platforms offering crypto trading by the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), instead of its current legal basis, the Payment Services Act.

The change would mean that cryptocurrencies would be considered as a financial product, rather than the form of payment similar to electronic money that they are currently treated as.