May 18, 2022
By Anjali Kochhar
South Korea has launched an “emergency” investigation of domestic crypto exchange operators following the collapse of Terra’s stablecoin UST and cryptocurrency LUNA, a local media report has said.
Last week, UST lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, sending its price and the price of terra (LUNA) into free fall.
At the time of writing, UST was trading at less than $0.3065 while LUNA was near worthless.
South Korean top financial regulators, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), have asked local cryptocurrency exchange operators to share information relating to UST and LUNA, as per the report.
“Last week, financial authorities asked for data on the amount of transactions and investors, and sized up the exchanges’ relevant measures,” the report quoted a local official as saying.
“I think they did it to draw up measures to minimize the damage to investors in the future,” the exchange official said.
Terra’s tokens were invented by Kwon Do-hyung (aka Do Kwon), a South Korean national. Since the collapse of the two cryptocurrencies, Kwon has come up with a few plans to revive the coins but none has worked so far.
Yun Chang-Hyun, a South Korean parliament member has urged lawmakers to conduct a hearing on the collapse of Terra and to summon Kwon and others to be witnesses.
“We should bring related exchange officials, including CEO Do Kwon of Terra, which has become a recent problem, to the National Assembly to hold a hearing on the cause of the situation and measures to protect investors,” the parliament member reportedly said during a plenary meeting Tuesday according to local outlet Newspim.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
