Lawmaker Min Byung-doo of the governing Democratic Party Tuesday said that the government will have no choice but to review its current negative stance on cryptocurrencies.

In a conference in Seoul, he said the government has a strong willingness to foster innovation in the economy. Thus the government might reassess its anti-cryptocurrency position in due course. He said Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra might encourage the government to change its negative position.

Yoo Jae-soo, vice mayor of the Busan City for economic affairs, also said the government’s designation of the port city as the nation’s first blockchain special district, symbolizes that the government began to move away from the negative position on cryptocurrencies. He said the city would stand behind the move among banks and fund managers to establish funds for supporting blockchain startups.

The vice mayor said the port city would stand in the vanguard to polish the negative image on cryptocurrencies.

Participants in the conference said it was quite illogical for the government to ban startups from raising capital through initial coin offerings (ICOs) while South Koreans are buying and selling cryptocurrencies issued by foreign companies.

They said the government might make Korea, ‘the consumer of blockchain industry, not the producer, due to the current blocking of blockchain startups in raising capital through ICOs.

They urged the government to take a proactive stance to make Korea a global leader in the virtual industry. The world is entering the era of the virtual economy as typified by Bitcoin, YouTube, and online games, they said.

They said the timing is running out for Korea in fostering blockchain business.