Upbit to Contribute to Supervision Fees like Banks and Securities Companies

Upbit to Contribute to Supervision Fees like Banks and Securities Companies

Upbit, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, will soon be contributing to supervision fees like banks and securities companies. This move comes as the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is promoting a plan to impose supervision fees on virtual asset business operators for the first time. The FSS is currently collecting opinions on contributions from all virtual asset business operators, including virtual asset exchanges and wallet operators. Supervision fees are quasi-tax fees that financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, securities companies, and asset management companies pay to the FSS in exchange for receiving supervision and inspection services. The amount of payment is applied differentially depending on sales, debt, and industry. It is known that banks pay more than 10 billion to 15 billion won in supervision fees per bank per year, based on the banking sector. The FSS's plan to impose supervision fees on virtual asset business operators is seen as a move to strengthen the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry in South Korea. The FSS has been criticized in the past for its lack of oversight of the cryptocurrency industry, which has led to a number of high-profile cases of fraud and theft. The imposition of supervision fees is expected to help the FSS to increase its budget for the supervision of the cryptocurrency industry and to improve its ability to detect and prevent fraud and theft.