South Korean Lawmakers Say Their Wallets Are ‘Full of Crypto Dust’
Politics
South Korea
One MP said he sold $85,700 worth of Bitcoin right after declaring his tokens
Last updated:
September 22, 2024 19:30 EDT
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Tim Alper
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Tim Alper
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Last updated:
September 22, 2024 19:30 EDT
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South Korean lawmakers claim their
crypto wallets
contain little more than “crypto dust,” as they continue to distance themselves from token ownership.
Per
Sisa Journal
, many notable crypto-holding lawmakers have sold their coins. This is likely due to ongoing crypto-related political scandals.
Crypto Dust Is All We Have Left, MPs Claim
Chief among these is the
Coin Gate affair
. The affair saw former lawmaker and crypto-related parliamentary commission member Kim Nam-guk accused of using insider information to trade coins.
Further allegations of crypto insider trading led lawmakers to
accuse one another of secretly owning tokens ahead of parliamentary elections
.
As a result, South Korean lawmakers and their families are now legally obliged to make crypto declarations.
So, rather than face public scrutiny about their crypto holdings, it appears that many lawmakers have simply liquidated their holdings.
And that means they have been left with wallets full of little more than crypto dust and modest amounts of
airdrop
-related coins.
What Is Crypto Dust?
Crypto “dust”
refers to tiny quantities of cryptoassets that are typically too small to be traded
.
This dust usually accumulates after crypto holders sell a maximum amount of coins, leaving behind tiny amounts that fall under crypto exchanges’ minimum trade limits.
Only 36 out of 300 elected National Assembly officials said they had any crypto holdings with a non-zero monetary value prior to April 10’s elections.
However, the percentage of crypto in total asset worth for all 300 lawmakers is a mere 0.01%. This, the media outlet explained, is an “absolutely insignificant amount.”
Moreover, many of those who declared coins appeared to have moved quickly to dispose of their cryptoassets.
The media outlet spoke to Chun Ha-ram of the New Reform Party, who reported that his wife had 11 crypto wallets holding tokens “worth a total of 22,000 won ($16.51).”
Chun Ha-ram, New Reform Party Lawmaker. (Source: JTBC News/YouTube)
Six of these coins, Chun told the outlet, were airdrops to
EOS
coin holders, while three others were airdropped to
XRP
owners.
Bitcoin Sell-off
The media outlet also gave the example of Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jun-hyeok, who declared that he owned 114.2 million won ($85,700) worth of
Bitcoin (BTC)
.
However, Kim Jun-hyeok has since claimed he “disposed of all” of his BTC “after declaring it.”
On the other side of the house, the People’s Power Party lawmaker Park Chung-kwon reported owning 58.8 million won ($44,128) worth of
Solana (SOL)
before the election.
But Park also said he had sold all of his SOL holdings in February this year.
Scandal Pushing Lawmakers Away from Crypto?
The media outlet added that records show that many lawmakers have also sold many of their holdings immediately after they received airdropped coins.
However, the records do make interesting reading for domestic crypto enthusiasts.
They indicate that certain lawmakers have been extremely active in the past on both the BTC and the altcoins markets.
One lawmaker declared owning crypto wallets for some 45 altcoins. But the same MP calculated these coins as having a worth of just over $580.
Kim Nam-guk, meanwhile, is set to face trial over ongoing allegations. Last month, prosecutors indicted the former Democratic Party MP on charges of using crypto to hide his assets.
Prosecutors think he used cryptoassets to hide almost $7.5 million worth of his wealth.
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