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Cryptocurrency has a lot of interest from people to the extent that its daily trading value exceeds that of the stock market. They often start with the expectation that they can achieve high profits with relatively little money, but the price fluctuates so much that, recently, fraudulent crimes targeting investors have been on the rise. So the authorities came up with a belated countermeasure, but there are many critics that it is not enough.



Reporter Yoon Nara focused on the coverage.



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This man in his 20s has invested in cryptocurrencies after being discharged from the military and owes a large amount of debt, so he is unable to return to college.



[Coin investor in their twenties: I keep getting a loan and using it. So, if I borrow again, I'm in debt again.]



To make up for the loss, I even tried to get my parents' mortgage loan, but in the end it was a waste of money.



[Coin investor in their twenties: My mother said that she is now buying a house, and this is a mortgage loan, but I asked for it for a short time for about a week. So, 240 million in total?] The number of



cryptocurrency investors is on the rise from 1.04 million in January last year to 5.11 million in April.



Nearly half of these investors are in their 20s and 30s.



He said that he started investing because he could start with less money than real estate and could achieve a high return, but he said that he was worried about the lack of related systems.



[Jeong Hye-min / University student investor: I put money in an exchange, but it doesn't withdraw. If only the scammers were caught well... .] The



government came up with a belated response at the end of last month, saying that it could not protect investment losses because it was a virtual asset with no intrinsic value.



It is said that 9 government ministries will share management, including the Financial Services Commission in charge of managing cryptocurrency businesses.



In addition, from September, the investor privacy system will be in place and only exchanges with real-name accounts verified by the bank will be allowed to operate.



Of the 60 cryptocurrency exchanges currently in operation, only 4 meet the conditions that will be applied from September.



[Jung Jae-wook / Attorney: I will give you a certain period of time to take out the funds in the exchange. However, exchanges with insufficient assets or problems will not be able to do so. So (investors') bankruptcy or things like that can happen.] The general



consensus is that the so-called Specific Financial Transaction Information Act, which takes effect in September, is insufficient to protect investors as its main purpose is to prevent money laundering.



In the United States and Japan, financial authorities review cryptocurrency listings, while in Korea, private exchanges do the review.



Because of this, only 12 and 58 coins are traded on the largest exchanges in Japan and the United States, respectively, but 178 in Korea.



It is a structure that is difficult to prevent the sprawl of poor cryptocurrencies.



The government, which has no will to manage the growing number of cryptocurrencies and offers no clear investor protection measures, has decided to impose a 20% tax on profits from cryptocurrency trading starting next year.



[Victim of cryptocurrency exchange fraud: without protecting investors at all… You've earned your money, so I'll hit you in the future. This doesn't make sense.]



[Jeong Jae-wook / Attorney: If taxes are imposed, I think that responsibility should follow. It is necessary to come up with regulations and guidelines after understanding the current situation.]



(Video coverage: Park Seung-won)