South Korea Opens To Corporate Crypto Investment, But Sets 5% Cap
South Korea is reportedly planning to permit firms to spend money on crypto, a transfer that might see the overturn of a nine-year-old ban.
South Korea Sets Crypto Corporate Investing Limit At 5%
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has drafted tips to permit listed corporations {and professional} buyers to commerce crypto, in response to a report from South Korean media outlet EnterpriseKorea. The FSC shared the draft with a public-private process drive on January sixth, and in response to a high-ranking monetary business official, authorities are anticipated to launch the ultimate tips between January and February.
Since 2017, company and institutional gamers in South Korea have been underneath an efficient prohibition from buying and selling and investing in digital property like Bitcoin, with the federal government citing hypothesis and money-laundering dangers. The nation’s stance started to shift in February 2025, when the FSC introduced a plan to steadily enable institutional participation within the area. The newest tips are a follow-up to this announcement.
South Korea easing up on company crypto investments hasn’t come with out restrictions, nevertheless. Authorities have reportedly set an funding cap of 5% of fairness capital, which corporations can solely deploy into cash inside the highest 20 by market cap checklist. These property will likely be decided primarily based on the semi-annual market cap knowledge sourced from the highest 5 home digital asset exchanges.
Stablecoins tied to the US Dollar, like USDT and USDC, at present fall inside the highest 20 checklist, however whether or not they are going to be included as permitted funding targets continues to be being mentioned.
While South Korea is planning on a 5% funding cap, different international locations just like the US or Japan haven’t any such limits on company investing. One monetary business insider has raised issues concerning the restriction, saying that “funding restrict restrictions not discovered abroad may weaken capital influx elements and forestall the emergence of digital foreign money funding specialist corporations.”
South Korea has additionally made different developments associated to the crypto business lately. The East Asian nation is planning to introduce digital asset spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this 12 months, trying to funding autos energetic within the US and Hong Kong as reference factors.
The FSC can be engaged on the following part of its digital asset laws, which may see the institution of a regulatory framework for stablecoins. As reported by Bitcoinist, the invoice has up to now been delayed because of a dispute between the FSC and the Bank of Korea (BoK).
The BoK, South Korea’s central financial institution, has been pushing for banks to personal at the very least a 51% stake in any stablecoin issuer searching for approval within the nation. While the FSC agrees that monetary establishments must be concerned within the issuance of received stablecoins, the regulator has raised issues {that a} financial institution majority requirement may restrict market participation and innovation.
Bitcoin Price
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is buying and selling round $90,600, down 2.5% over the previous week.