South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has lifted the ban on corporate investments in cryptocurrencies, according to local media.
The final regulations will be published in January or February. Under the draft, legal entities will be allowed to allocate up to 5% of their shareholder equity to coins within the top 20 by market capitalization. Stablecoins are not yet included in this list—a decision on them will be made later.
Investments will be permitted only through the country’s five largest regulated exchanges: Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, INEX, and Coinone.
The South Korean government banned corporations from investing in cryptocurrencies in 2017 due to concerns about money laundering.
Potential Impact
Experts from Seoul Economic Daily anticipate that more than 3,500 corporations will enter the market, bringing in “tens of trillions of won.”
As an example, journalists cited the internet giant Naver, with a capital of $18.4 billion (27 trillion won). Within the 5% limit, the company could theoretically acquire about 10,000 BTC.
The lifting of the ban could accelerate the launch of a national stablecoin and the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, issues that have long been stalled.
Opening corporate access to the market could boost the development of local crypto companies, blockchain startups, and the DAT sector, as well as stimulate domestic investments in digital assets.
Until now, major South Korean corporations had to use foreign jurisdictions for such investments to circumvent domestic restrictions.
Earlier in January, South Korea’s Supreme Court for the first time recognized the legality of seizing bitcoins from exchange wallets in criminal cases.