South Korea will invest nearly $900 million in technologies including blockchain

Summary:

• Bitcoin (BITCOIN on xStation5) rebounds from the important $6000 level

• Jeju Island wants to become an ICO haven

• South Korea will invest about $900 million in technologies including blockchain

The crypto bears’ siege has eased recently allowing the cryptocurrency market capitalization to return above the $200 billion mark. Minor gains can be observed on this market on Thursday morning with Ethereum surging the most over the course of past 24 hours. Among the news highlighted today one can find the latest South Korean budget plans as well as ambitions of one island to become an ICO-friendly zone.

BITCOIN bounced from the psychological $6000 handle, and the cryptocurrency is trading around $6400 at press time. The area above seems to be a crucial technical obstacle as we have seen price reversing in the vicinity of this area several times before. The price movement seems to be locked within the consolidation ranging $6000-6500. Source: xStation5

Let’s move to the South Korea where the South Korean government is set to invest about $900 million (approx. 1 trillion South Korean won) in 2019 in the areas of blockchain, artificial intelligence, sharing economy and big data, according to the “Grow through Innovation” investment plan published on August 13. It should be noted that such an expenditure would mark around 80% increase against this year’s spending.  Additionally, the government aims to invest $8-9 billion overall in the platform economy (i.e. economic and social activity simplified by platforms; iOS, Android, Amazon, Uber and Airbnb can be some examples of these platforms) over the next five years.

An easing of the downward pressure could be spotted on ETHEREUM as well. The coin has rebounded from the $250 handle and moved towards the resistance level at $300. The cryptocurrency is trading around the $290 handle, between the 8- and 33-period moving averages on the H4 interval (yellow and purple lines on the chart), at press time. Source: xStation5

Apart from the South Korean government plans let’s mention another interesting story coming from the country on more local level. Namely, Jeju Island, the South Korean island, wants to attract cryptocurrency startups by becoming an ICO-friendly area. JoongAng Daily reported on Monday that Won Hee-ryong, the governor of the island, suggested a designation of Jeju as exceptional zone for this purpose during the Wednesday’s meeting with governmental policymakers. Won Hee-ryong proposed that blockchain startups on Jeju Island would be free to conduct initial coin offerings (ICO). What’s interesting, this proposal has been presented in spite of the current nation-wide ICO ban in South Korea. The Jeju Island is the largest island off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, and it is a popular holiday destination.