Choe Heung-sik, the governor of the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service, has told reporters that he is keen to support 'normal transactions' in crypto-currencies; an apparent volte face from his former hard-line stance.

The Financial Supervisory Service has reportedly told its employees not to invest or trade in crypto-currencies. If Heung-sik's words carry any water at all, this ban is now going to be lifted.

Whether the bans that the stock exchange, the central bank and the Fair Trade Commission have placed on their own employees will be lifted remains to be seen. This might be the case, as the crypto-currency press is claiming a victory for South Korea's investors, who are more keen on Bitcoin and the lesser currencies than any other nation of investors in the world, and quoting Heung-sik as saying that his new stance has the support of the Government. He also reportedly said that the Government is going to encourage banks to carry out transactions that involve crypto-currencies. Guidelines have been issued.

By 'normal transactions' Heung-sik meant transactions that conform to South Korea's know-your-customer (KYC) rules. Crypto-traders are not yet obliged to register but they have been banned from trading anonymously. Some big banks are already helping investors trade cryptos, although others are holding back.