The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said Monday that Korean financial companies will adopt blockchain technology only after its technology is verified and safety is fully tested.
Joo Hong-min, head of the FSC e-finance team, said the government is proactive in using blockchain technology, the core technology in the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution. He noted that the pan-government task force has been activated at the Prime Minister’s Office.
He said the government must prioritize protecting consumers in the financial services market. “Thus blockchain technology will be available at domestic financial companies only after its technology is safe and accessible to consumers,” he said in a seminar hosted at the National Assembly Library.
Joo said financial companies must extra cautious in adopting blockchain technology, adding that it may take two to three decades in verifying its technology. He said blockchain technology is not better than the centralized server-type computer system.
He reaffirmed the government’s ban on initial coin offering (ICO), saying that companies have an access to funding for start-ups instead of raising capital in the ICO market. The blockchain industry should produce alternative technology other than virtual coins.
He quoted the UK Economist magazine as saying that less than half of the companies keep new projects going for more than four months after raising capital through ICOs.
He said the cyrptocurrency exchanges are the market place where speculation is widespread, adding that the virtual coins and blockchain technology should be instrumental in channeling funds to industrial companies.