[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Financial authorities have rejected the change of virtual asset trading business notification for the virtual asset payment service 'Paycoin' (corporate name PayProtocol).
On the 6th, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission held the 15th Notification Review Committee meeting and announced that as a result of reviewing the business operator change for 'PayProtocol', the change notification was rejected because PayProtocol did not meet the reporting requirements under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.
PayProtocol, established in Switzerland by the payment operator Danal to issue virtual assets, reported itself as a virtual asset wallet and custody operator in April last year but later additionally reported as a trading business that can buy and sell virtual assets. Initially, PayProtocol’s affiliates traded Paycoin used for payments, but since PayProtocol took over all trading activities, it additionally reported the virtual asset trading business.
The financial authorities considered it appropriate to view PayProtocol as a 'trading operator' due to the nature of its business and accepted Paycoin’s virtual asset business operator notification last year in April on the condition of changing the report from a wallet operator to a 'trading operator.'
Following the authorities’ instructions, Paycoin has been negotiating with banks to issue real-name verified deposit and withdrawal accounts until recently, but it is reported that the contract was ultimately not concluded.
With the authorities rejecting PayProtocol’s request to report the trading business, Paycoin’s payment service is also expected to be suspended. An official from the authorities stated, "Considering the period necessary for guidance to protect users and merchants and technical measures related to service termination, Paycoin’s payment service can be settled by February 5."
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