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South Korea’s 20% Tax on Crypto Gains Will Take Effect in 2022: Report
NFTs appear to be exempt from the crypto taxes for now because South Korea does not classify them as “virtual assets.”
By Nelson Wang
Updated May 11, 2023, 3:57 p.m. Published Oct 7, 2021, 7:40 p.m.
South Korean Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki said his country is moving ahead with its plan to tax gains on cryptocurrency trading starting in 2022, according to a report in The Korea Times.
- The policy, which will levy a 20% tax on crypto gains of over 2.5 million won (US$2,125) made in a one-year period, was originally supposed to go into effect on Oct. 1, but was delayed due to a lack of taxation infrastructure.
- A previous proposal in September by the ruling Democratic Party of South Korea to delay the taxation policy until 2023 was abandoned, CoinDesk Korea reported.
- “Any further delay in the already postponed enforcement will lead to the loss of public trust in government policy and undermine stability in the legal system,” Hong said at a parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Seoul on Wednesday, according to the report.
- NFTs appear to be exempt from the crypto taxes for now, however, because South Korea does not currently classify them as “virtual assets.”
- Meanwhile, crypto exchanges in South Korea were required to register with local authorities by Sept. 24 or else suspend operations.
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What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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U.S. Senate's Crypto Market Structure Bill Gets Messy as Calendar Weighs Down
The White House has shut down proposals, and lawmakers are circulating the Democrats' asks in what had been a close negotiation, revealing 11th-hour pressure.
What to know:
- Democrats shared a response to Republicans outlining their continuing priorities for a crypto market structure bill, which they said was intended to "reach an agreement and proceed towards a mark-up."
- The document laid out concerns with financial stability, market integrity and public officials' ability to trade and profit off of crypto, echoing concerns laid out in a framework Democrats shared in September.
- The Senate is running out of time in the Congressional calendar to hold a markup hearing — a key step toward progressing the bill — before 2025 ends.
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