[Bitcoin Now] Breaking Free from Omicron Fear... Rebounds to 72 Million Won

Ruling and Opposition Lawmakers Tentatively Agree to Postpone Cryptocurrency Taxation by One Year

On the morning of the 29th, when the Omicron variant, which is more contagious than the Delta (India) variant, emerged in 13 countries, passengers arriving on flights from Frankfurt and Khabarovsk entered through Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport. Photo by Airport Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin rebounded to the 72 million KRW range. It appears to be gradually escaping the fear derived from the new COVID-19 variant virus ‘Omicron’.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 2:22 PM on the 29th, Bitcoin recorded 72.12 million KRW, down 0.25% from the previous day. It had fallen to 68.08 million KRW on the 26th but rebounded afterward. It rose to 73.15 million KRW at 10:13 AM that day but has since shown a sluggish trend.

On the 26th, the cryptocurrency market showed weakness due to Omicron fears. According to major foreign media on the 28th (local time), the World Health Organization (WHO) stated, “The transmissibility and severity risk of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron have not yet been identified,” adding, “It will take several days to weeks to understand.” As countries locked down their borders again amid concerns that the economy could stagnate, financial markets including the cryptocurrency market were shaken.

However, opinions suggesting that excessive concern is unnecessary have emerged, and investment sentiment is observed to be recovering. The reason is that border closures have already been experienced with COVID-19, and vaccinations have progressed to some extent. Additionally, Barry Schoub, the government vaccine advisory committee member of South Africa, the origin of Omicron, also claimed that the infection symptoms of Omicron remained at a mild level.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties agreed to postpone the taxation timing of cryptocurrencies by one year. According to the National Assembly on the 29th, the Tax Subcommittee of the Planning and Finance Committee held a meeting the day before and tentatively agreed to pass a bill postponing the cryptocurrency taxation timing from 2022 to 2023. Based on the agreement reached in the subcommittee, the ruling and opposition parties plan to adjust detailed taxation plans.

Earlier, the government decided to impose a 20% miscellaneous income tax on cryptocurrency capital gains starting January next year. Roh Woong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, “The postponement of cryptocurrency taxation is a natural step from the perspective that unprepared taxation cannot be implemented,” adding, “With an additional year until the taxation enforcement, we will do our best to further activate the cryptocurrency market by raising the non-taxable threshold until then.”