If 5 People Pool 2 Million Won Each, 'OO Coin' Is Born... Anyone Can Issue Cryptocurrency

Open Chatting and Portal Site Searches Make It Easy to Find Publishing Agencies... Possible Without Expertise or Specificity
Exchange Production and Promotion Agency Connections... High Possibility of Self-Trading
Major Four Exchanges' Cryptocurrencies Also Unstable... Need to Investigate Whitepapers and Establish Regulations

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[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] "I want to issue a virtual currency."

When I inquired about issuance and listing through a virtual currency issuance agency via a KakaoTalk open chat room, I received a reply in less than 10 minutes. They simply quoted a price and timeframe, saying, "Issuing the virtual currency, preparing the whitepaper for listing, and creating the homepage altogether costs 10 million KRW, and it takes two weeks." When I said I had no expertise or concrete plans, they explained that if I just provide an appealing idea and photos of eight developers to be listed, they would handle the rest. When I hesitated, they insisted that they had created virtual currencies listed on well-known exchanges and urged me to trust and leave it to them.

On the 29th, Asia Economy tried to create a virtual currency and found that even without any specialized knowledge, it was easy to create one through an agency. Virtual currency issuance agencies were easily accessible not only through KakaoTalk open chats but also via Google searches. On domestic portals like Naver and Daum, sites of virtual currency issuance agencies appeared in the form of advertisements one after another.

Virtual Currency Made in a Snap for 10 Million KRW

The cost to issue a virtual currency and create the necessary whitepaper and homepage for listing was roughly between 10 million and 20 million KRW. If five people each pay 2 million KRW, they can handle everything from issuance to listing preparation. No professional content was required at the time of request; only a rough idea was needed. When I said I wanted to create a virtual currency used in a food delivery application, they replied that was sufficient. This means that if the whitepaper contains plausible content such as innovation and blockchain, listing is possible.

Some even offered to handle the exchange listing on behalf of the client. They said that only the listing fee (commission) payable to the exchange needed to be paid. The fee was specifically set at 20 million KRW for small exchanges and 100 million KRW for medium-sized exchanges. Although there is no listing fee for the four major domestic virtual currency exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone), they explained that if the currency gains popularity on small and medium exchanges, listing on the four major exchanges would be just a matter of time.

Exchange Included for 50 Million KRW

Even virtual currency exchanges could be created upon request. They explained that quality varies by price but exchanges could be built for between 50 million and 200 million KRW. When asked if developers were needed to operate and improve the exchange, the agency replied, "Hiring developers costs a lot, so having two administrators to operate the 24-hour server and two assistants is sufficient."

They did not provide specific answers about the revenue of small exchanges but hinted that they received a success fee of 100 million KRW from an exchange that succeeded in operation. They also introduced a promotional agency, saying that promotion is necessary for successful exchange operation. Professor Hong Ki-hoon of Hongik University’s Department of Business Administration explained, "For a virtual currency exchange to gain fame, a large trading volume is necessary," adding, "It is highly likely that the promotional agency will be responsible for wash trading." Wash trading refers to the practice where the same investor places buy and sell orders to inflate trading volume.

Experts raised their voices, saying that since investor harm is a concern, the government must take practical measures. Professor Lee Byung-wook of Seoul School of Integrated Sciences and Technologies said, "We cannot be sure that virtual currencies listed on the four major domestic exchanges did not go through agencies," and added, "The government should step in and conduct a thorough investigation of the whitepapers of virtual currencies listed on the four major domestic exchanges." Professor Hong emphasized, "In the long term, the virtual currency market should be incorporated into existing regulations such as the Electronic Commerce Consumer Protection Act and the Door-to-Door Sales Act to establish post-facto measures and regulatory fairness."