South Korea and the United States are scheduled to hold high-level cryptocurrency regulatory talks in January.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler is scheduled to meet with Korea Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Commissioner Lee Bok-hyun. This meeting is expected to be a very important one. As Chosun Biz reported on December 18, the conference, scheduled to be held in January, is a proactive approach to review the dynamics of the cryptocurrency market and future supervisory measures.

The timing of this conference is particularly important given the changes currently occurring in the regulatory environments in the United States and Korea. It is speculated that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon approve a number of exchange-traded products, including Bitcoin. Meanwhile, South Korea is expected to implement new regulations by July 2024, which will have a major impact on cryptocurrency traders and exchanges. The importance of these high-level meetings is highlighted by the fact that the regulatory environment is constantly changing.

Moreover, the situation of former Terraform Labs co-founder Dokwon Kwon makes the regulatory environment more complex. The fact that Kwon is struggling with legal issues in various countries, including the possibility of extradition to the United States, further complicates the discussion Lee and Gensler are discussing. The existence of this issue demonstrates the complex relationship that exists between international law and the decentralized structure of cryptocurrencies.

To date, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has only approved exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to Bitcoin futures. This is because Gary Gensler was in charge of the SEC. A decision on spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is highly anticipated in the industry, especially for large cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The impending discussions between Lee and Gensler are likely to provide insight into potential future regulatory actions in this area.

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