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Financial authorities have decided to strengthen standards for the listing of new coins, industry officials said Sunday. The decision follows ongoing controversies over the listing of meme coins, such as "Official Trump," and their extreme price fluctuations.

Meme coins are cryptocurrencies created primarily for entertainment rather than practical use.

According to the officials, the Financial Supervisory Service has established a task force with Korea's five virtual asset exchanges and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance, holding its first meeting on Friday. The task force will convene regularly every one to two weeks to refine listing standards, incorporating industry feedback to improve regulations.

Since the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users took effect last July, new virtual assets must meet criteria related to issuer credibility, user protection, security standards and regulatory compliance to be approved for trading.

However, some virtual asset exchanges were recently criticized for hastily listing meme coins like Official Trump, issued by U.S. President Donald Trump, to catch investors' attention. Critics argue that such listings expose investors to heightened risks.

A clear example is their extreme price volatility. For instance, on Dec. 9, a meme coin named "Movement" was listed on one of Korea's virtual asset exchanges, Coinone, at 8 p.m. Its reference price was 215.3 won ($0.15). Yet, within just 41 minutes, its price skyrocketed to 998,500 won, only to crash to around 5,400 won another 16 minutes later.

"Listing and maintaining meme coins are expected to become more stringent, with additional requirements such as securing a certain level of liquidity at the time of listing," an industry official said.