{"id":78900,"date":"2026-04-03T04:01:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T04:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=78900"},"modified":"2026-04-03T04:01:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T04:01:31","slug":"crypto-traders-on-edge-as-korea-stalls-key-law-is-the-kimchi-premium-at-risk-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=78900","title":{"rendered":"Crypto Traders On Edge As Korea Stalls Key Law \u2014 Is The \u201cKimchi Premium\u201d At Risk Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The National Policy Committee of Korea pushed the \u201csecond\u2011phase\u201d crypto act debate until after the June 3 local elections.<\/p>\n

Crypto Framework Postponed In A Time Of Need<\/h2>\n

The Korean outlet Maeil Business Newspaper reported<\/a> uncertainty in the crypto industry deepening after the National Policy Committee excluded the Framework Act on Digital Assets from the 31st of March agenda.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers sent five finance-related bills to the subcommittee that day: the Framework Act on Administrative Regulation, the Credit Information Protection Act, the Microfinance Support Act, the Insurance Business Act, and the Capital Markets Act. Not a single bill related to crypto was included, but the Political Affairs Committee\u2019s plenary session received Representative Kim Nam-geun\u2019s \u201cPartial Amendment to the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, etc.\u201d and forwarded it to the Bill Review Subcommittee.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers opted to park the second\u2011phase bill during a sensitive election window rather than ram through divisive provisions on banks and exchange tycoons, which have become \u201ccore landmines\u201d in the legislative process. Speculation in Korean political coverage suggest that the presidential office and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) are not fully aligned on how far to push ownership caps and how tightly to ring\u2011fence stablecoin issuance, adding to the deadlock narrative.<\/p>\n

The proposed crypto framework comes at a time of major importance, as the aforementioned political disagreements also happen to be the two key fights occurring between major players in the Korean cryptocurrency and financial industry.<\/p>\n

The Stablecoins Fight<\/p>\n

South Korea has recently seen a tug\u2011of\u2011war between The Bank of Korea and the FSC over who gets to issue won\u2011denominated stablecoins.<\/p>\n

The BOK is pushing for a bank\u2011led consortium model where commercial banks must hold at least 51% of any issuer of won\u2011denominated stablecoins. Bitcoinist reported this on October last year.<\/a><\/p>\n

The FSC, however, accepts that stablecoins need strict safeguards but opposes a hard 51% bank\u2011ownership rule<\/a>, warning it would lock out tech platforms, fintechs and exchanges that actually build the user\u2011facing products.<\/p>\n

These stablecoin-issuers rules are to be hard\u2011wired under the Digital Asset Basic Act, so every month of delay leaves existing and would\u2011be KRW stablecoin issuers operating in a gray zone or stuck on the sidelines. According to local outlet Aju Economy<\/a>, this is a real and concerning issue for the industry. They reported on and industry insider lament:<\/p>\n

\n

We need the bill to be finalized quickly to determine our business direction, but currently, we are keeping all possibilities open, which is only increasing the cost burden.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Equity-Cap Fight<\/p>\n

The FSC has been backing proposals to treat big crypto exchanges more like securities or ATS\u2011style markets, where no single \u201csame person\u201d can own beyond roughly 15\u201320% in principle. After heavy pushback, regulators and the ruling party have coalesced around a 20% ceiling for \u201cmajor shareholders\u201d, with a narrow exception that allows stakes up to 34% for new entrants, mirroring the 33.3% veto line in Korea\u2019s Commercial Act. Bitcoinist covered the story at the beginning of the past month.<\/a><\/p>\n

For existing giants like Upbit and Bithumb, this is a post\u2011facto rule. Founders and early backers already hold stakes well above 20%, so a hard cap would force them to sell down significant portions of their equity over a three\u2011year transition (six years for some smaller exchanges). This could potentially disrupt ongoing M&A and reshape control of the local market.<\/p>\n

What This Means For The Market<\/p>\n

South Korea seems ready to move from ad\u2011hoc crackdowns to a comprehensive crypto regime. This delay comes on top of recent moves from Seoul to step up oversight with strategies such as AI surveillance<\/a>, manipulation probes and tax tracking, and to loosen some restrictions, like easing earlier exchange\u2011stake proposals and reconsidering corporate crypto trading.<\/p>\n

Near term, rule uncertainty around KRW stablecoins and exchange ownership could keep Korean venues\u2019 risk premia high and make local listing or market\u2011making plans harder to model. Post\u2011election, a bank\u2011heavy stablecoin framework plus tighter governance rules could favor well\u2011capitalized incumbents and banks over smaller, high\u2011beta platforms. This could reshape liquidity and altcoin listings.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers watering down ownership caps or opening up stablecoin issuance beyond banks would be a clear risk\u2011on signal for KRW\u2011denominated products and for global firms eyeing Korea\u2019s retail base.<\/p>\n

\"Bitcoin,<\/p>\n

Cover image from Perplexity. BTCUSDT chart from Tradingview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Policy Committee of Korea pushed the \u201csecond\u2011phase\u201d crypto act debate until after the June 3 local elections. Crypto Framework Postponed In A Time Of Need The Korean outlet Maeil Business Newspaper reported uncertainty in the crypto industry deepening after the National Policy Committee excluded the Framework Act on Digital Assets from the 31st […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-78900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}