Seoul — As South Korean policy makers debate whether and how to regulate bitcoin, some investors in the cryptocurrency are taking the sanguine view that the current rout will turn out to be a temporary blip, and that any ban will be easily circumvented.South Korean policy makers said on Thursday that Seoul was considering shutting down domestic virtual currency exchanges as the new breed of market exposes users to speculative frenzy and crime.Policy makers in countries including the US and Germany are struggling to come up with stricter regulation against money laundering and other crimes.Responding to questions in parliament, South Korea’s chief of the Financial Services Commission said the government was considering shutting down either "all local virtual currency exchanges or just the ones who have been violating the law".Separately, Bank of Korea governor Lee Ju-yeol told a news conference that "cryptocurrency is not a legal currency and is not being used as such as of now".Regu...
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