Crypto ETF ban to remain in place in South Korea

South Korea's financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, has stated that the adoption of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States will not affect the ban in their home country.

Speaking to South Korean media outlet Kyunghyang, a senior agency official said that the developments in the United States do not concern them and will not affect the laws in South Korea. The official also said that the reason why companies are prohibited from investing in cryptocurrencies or receiving funds is to protect investors.

The country's capital markets law currently limits the scope of underlying assets for investment contracts, such as ETFs, to non-crypto financial investment instruments, currencies, and commodities. Companies have not been able to invest in cryptocurrencies since 2017.

South Korea is a country that has recently taken positive steps in Web3 and metaverse. The country, where many large and small stock exchanges were previously located, tightened the regulations after 2022 and imposed harsh rules for banks in this area, apart from the stock exchanges. Due to the new regulations that came into effect in March 2022, many medium and small stock exchanges in South Korea were closed.

Published: January 11, 2024 12:27 pm