South Korea is reportedly moving closer to launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC), with a new draft law set to create legal terminology for CBDCs. The bill will include clauses that spell out the legal differences between cryptoassets and CBDCs, and will explicitly exclude the CBDC issued by the Bank of Korea and services related to the token from regulation laid out in the forthcoming Virtual Assets Act. Some regulators and MPs initially worried that the clause might cause confusion, but the mood has reportedly changed, and the regulatory Financial Services Commission is set to "make a concession" and endorse the clause. The Bank of Korea has not officially announced the launch of a digital won, but some expect it to speed up the introduction of its CBDC.

(By Tim Alper)