South Korea to Hold Meeting with Crypto Exchanges to Discuss Cryptocurrency Tax

South Korea will hold a meeting with major cryptocurrency exchanges on Tuesday to discuss a possible delay in the introduction of a cryptocurrency tax, which is set to take effect in January. The meeting comes amid growing calls to postpone the tax after a legislator introduced a bill that could push the implementation date back by two years.

According to Yonhap, the meeting will be attended by Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX, and Gopax, as well as leaders of the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA). Officials include Kwon Dae Young, the first vice minister of finance and economy, and Yoo Young Joon, the director general of the digital financial policy department of the Financial Services Commission. The parties will discuss the current market situation and issues related to the tax implementation.

South Korean regulators have already delayed the tax three times, with the latest postponement moving the start to 2027. The reasons include political disagreements, industry resistance, and questions about the readiness of exchanges and the tax threshold level. A representative from one of the exchanges confirmed to Yonhap that unresolved transaction rules and limited time for infrastructure preparation support the idea of a delay. "Standards for different types of transactions have not yet been finalized, and there is little time left for practical infrastructure preparation," he said. "There is a general consensus in favor of delaying the start of taxation."

On Friday, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Min Kyu introduced a bill proposing to delay the tax until January 1 of the second year after South Korea begins data exchange under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). Since the first exchange is expected in 2027, taxation would begin in 2029.