가상통화 생성방식에 따른 유형별 법적 규제방안 연구 -발행주체의 존재여부를 중심으로-

A Study on the Legal Regulation Methods for Different Types of Virtual Currency Issuing

In recent years, virtual currencies, which combine IT technology, such as mining and blockchain, rather than the existing centralized issuance method, are attracting great attention in terms of functionality and stability as means of payment settlement. However, as recognition of virtual currencies has expanded from payment instruments to investment targets, there is an urgent need to establish a clear definition of these concepts and regulations for user protection. Especially, due to the possibility of abuse by means of money laundering, terrorist financing, tax portal, etc., it is urgent to prepare measures to protect the consumers from the necessity of public regulation and high price volatility. Major countries around the world are also paying attention to the need for various regulations or regulations based on the definition of virtual currencies. In the case of the United States and Japan, the regulations are defined through definition of virtual currencies and virtual currency exchanges, and various obligations are imposed on virtual currency traders to ensure soundness such as minimum capital regulation, explanation obligation, disclosure requirement, And provided legal measures to protect users against the risks associated with virtual currency transactions by constantly managing and monitoring the virtual money market through provision of active supervision authority of financial authorities. In the meantime, in Korea, virtual currencies are still in the blind spot of regulation. In this situation, the government is establishing a joint task force for the related ministries centered on the financial committee to secure legal stability through regulation of virtual currencies, Various legislative efforts have been made to protect users through the legal regulation of virtual currencies, such as the legislative initiative of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act. In this study, virtual currency is classified into issuing method and mining method in order to establish legal concept of virtual currency. Based on this distinction, we tried to contribute to the legal definition of virtual currency by examining applicable law of each type. In this way, we tried to find the stability of the virtual currency market and protect the virtual currency users through a new approach to the legal regulation of virtual currency. The development of new financial technologies, such as blockchains and virtual currency, increases the convenience of users, while the absence of regulations can cause users to suffer unintended consequences. Therefore, it is urgent to prepare regulations to regulate the overall virtual currency.