Law Decoded, May 30–June 6: Terra’s aftermath in China, Japan and South Korea

The “long waves” of TerraUSD’s May 7 collapse, which we noted two newsletters ago, are extending even further. Last week brought some notable reactions to the stablecoin’s depegging in the East Asia region. 

A Chinese state-owned media outlet, the Economic Daily has signaled that the Chinese government may introduce even tighter regulations on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins due to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. It might even mean a complete ban on stablecoins to prohibit ownership, transfer, purchase and sale of the assets, some experts believe. What China plans, Japan does — as a new law will limit the issuance of stablecoins to licensed banks, registered money transfer agents and trust companies.

It comes as no surprise that South Korea, the birthplace of Terra’s creator, is also among the first nations to react. Amid signs that Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon was facing legal trouble in South Korea, the country’s ruling party announced the launch of the Digital Asset Committee, whose task would be to oversee crypto until a permanent government entity is established. This is at the same time when the nation’s Financial Supervisory Service is demanding reports from 157 payment gateways about any service related to crypto, its plans for the future and disclosure of digital assets.

An open letter from crypto critics

From 2018 to 2021, the budget spent on crypto lobbying grew from $2.2 million to at least $9 million, and that didn’t go unnoticed. A group of academics, software developers and technology experts decided to pen an open letter to lawmakers in Washington, urging them to resist the lobbyist pressure and attempts to create a “regulatory safe haven” for crypto. The crypto community did not stay silent and expressed its disagreements with the letter and its contents — sadly, in some cases recursing to calling the co-signers “trolls” and “attention seekers.” 

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401(k) will fight for crypto in court

The United States Department of Labor’s March warning to 401(k) providers to stay away from crypto in their portfolios provoked some serious pushback across the spectrum of industry supporters, from congresspeople to trade associations. But ForUsAll, a 401(k) retirement provider with crypto already accessible to its clients, went even further and sued the Department. The company is seeking the withdrawal of a DOL compliance assistance release, which explained that the Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration may “conduct an investigative program” to target 401(k) plans that contain cryptocurrency.

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One step closer to mining moratorium in New York

Two months after it passed the lower chamber, the proof-of-work mining ban bill was approved by the New York State Senate. It means “no” to any new mining operations in the state for the next two years, but anyone using 100% of renewable energy is spared from the prohibition. Will other states follow New York and outlaw PoW mining to save the environment? That is surely not impossible. Though the European Parliament had to remove a similar plan after facing pushback. 

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