Regulations and crackdowns on virtual currency in each country are in full swing.
It is interpreted that the crackdown is aimed at protecting the state's control over money, along with concerns that financial consumers may be harmed if left unattended in a blind spot.
The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered on the 25th local time that one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance Markets Limited, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, should not engage in any regulated business until the FCA's consent has been obtained.
Binance is under investigation by authorities in Germany, the US and India.
In April, the German Financial Supervisory Service warned that Binance could face a fine for violating the European Union (EU) securities laws, such as failing to issue a prospectus while issuing tokens linked to stocks such as Tesla.
Last month, reports emerged that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service were investigating Binance on allegations of money laundering and tax evasion.
On the 11th of this month, the executive board of India's financial crime investigation agency announced that Binance's affiliate 'Wazir X' is investigating allegations of violating foreign currency trading regulations.
The size of the transaction related to this investigation is known to amount to about KRW 424 billion in our money.
Binance is not the only country in the world’s jade.
Last month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that companies that trade in cryptocurrencies worth about 11.28 million won or more will be required to report them to the IRS.
The reason is that cryptocurrency can be used for illegal activities such as tax evasion.
Separately, the National Tax Service said it could seize virtual currency for tax collection.
On the 18th of last month, the Chinese financial authorities repeatedly announced that they would not allow private virtual currency transactions, and three days later, the State Council's Financial Stability and Development Committee declared that "Bitcoin mining and transactions will be hit."
Since then, it has been banned from mining in most areas where Bitcoin mining was active, such as Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Yunnan.
Cryptocurrency-related accounts were blocked on social media Weibo, and search engines for virtual currency exchanges were blocked.
On the 21st, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, ordered Alipay, the largest electronic payment service operated by major banks and Alibaba Group, not to provide accounts or payment services related to virtual currency transactions.
The reason each country has started to regulate virtual currency is primarily because cash has flowed to virtual currencies that are not worth using in themselves.
If the bubble burst, in which the inflated value sinks to the bottom, it could seriously damage the entire financial system.
In its financial stability report last month, the European Central Bank was concerned that "Bitcoin price surge has surpassed previous financial bubbles, such as the tulip bubble of the 1600s and the South Sea bubble of the 1700s."
The US SEC also defines Bitcoin as a 'speculative asset'.
The fact that cryptocurrencies are being used for crime is also the reason why the crackdown began.
In particular, in the United States, voices calling for regulating virtual currency have grown as it became known that oil pipeline companies and the world's largest butchers had paid virtual currency to hackers after a ransomware attack last month.
There is also an analysis that countries, including China, have begun to beat their potential competitors, virtual currencies, as countries speed up the issuance of central bank digital currencies.
According to the results of a survey earlier this year by the Bank for International Settlements, an international organization for cooperation between central banks, 86% of central banks around the world are conducting research on digital currencies.
60% have entered technology experiments and 14% are developing pilot projects.
The price of Bitcoin, the largest virtual currency, soared to about 73.41 million won per piece in mid-April, but recently dropped below about 39.53 million won as regulations began in earnest.