The Bank of Korea (BOK) launched a task force to study virtual currency and its effect on conventional financial system amid growing concerns over cryptocurrency frenzy, the bank said Tuesday.

A total of eight departments including financial stability and monetary policy at the central bank will join the group study on cryptocurrency’s impacts on overall financial system.

The task force will be led by Shin Ho-soon, deputy governor, BOK, and the bank’s payment and settlement system department will assist the administration of the sessions.

The BOK will also explore central bank-led cryptocurrency, a hot discussion topic at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and central banks around the world, on top of creating a new team that will specialize in virtual currency later this month.

The bank’s move comes after concerns that virtual currency’s frantic growth could challenge the traditional ledger and monetary authority.

Central banks across the world are concerned about the frenzy over cryptocurrencies, Lee Ju-yeol, the BOK governor, recently said.

Meanwhile, the local crytocurrency exchanges endured a rout after CoinMarketCap, one of leading cryptocurrency data providers in the world, removed bitcoin prices from three major Korean exchanges Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit citing “extreme divergence in prices from the rest of the world and limited arbitrage opportunity.”

At 3:10 p.m. Wednesday in Seoul, the Bitcoin was priced at 22,430,000 won ($20,943) and Eithereum 2,170,000 won ($2,026) on Bithumb, while the two averaged at $14,377 and $1,359.8 respectively on CoinmarketCap.

By Kim In-oh and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]