South Korea finalizes draft of Digital Asset Bill
South Korea’s ruling party has finalized a Digital Asset Basic Act that tightens stablecoin rules with a ₩5b capital bar while signaling it wants to attract crypto business.
- The Democratic Party’s draft Digital Asset Basic Act sets about ₩5b in paid-in capital for stablecoin issuers and clarifies rules for tokenized products and service providers.
- The bill aims to calm a turf fight between the FSC and Bank of Korea over who polices stablecoins, though lawmakers admit the oversight dispute “still remains” beneath the surface.
- Seoul is pairing the law with a broader opening that includes spot Bitcoin ETFs from 2026, tokenized securities rules and looser venture caps to pull crypto capital into Korea.
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party has finalized the draft of its long-awaited “Digital Asset Basic Act,” tightening the screws on stablecoin issuers while signaling that the country intends to compete for crypto capital rather than repel it.
Core provisions and political timing
According to local outlet ChosunBiz, the party’s digital asset task force agreed on a legal capital requirement of 5 billion won for stablecoin firms, roughly ₩5 billion in paid-in capital, as part of a broader framework for digital assets. Lawmakers aim to table the bill before next month, keeping it on track to be debated ahead of the Lunar New Year political reset.
The legislation, branded the “Digital Asset Basic Act,” is designed to lock in rules for stablecoins, tokenized instruments, and service providers after months of regulatory infighting between the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Bank of Korea over how far to go in policing privately issued digital money.
Internal tensions, now managed – on paper
The task force’s chair, Lee Jeong-mun, stressed that the party now wants to move from intra‑bureaucratic argument to coordinated policy. “Soon, at the TF level, we will coordinate what has been sorted out regarding the issues with the party’s policy committee and discuss it with the government,” he told reporters after the second plenary meeting.
Party officials claim “outstanding concerns” around the bill have been resolved ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, including contentious limits on major shareholders’ stakes in key digital-asset firms. Yet the underlying dispute between the FSC and the central bank over stablecoin oversight “still remains,” underscoring that the bill will not remove institutional rivalry overnight.
Part of a broader crypto-opening
The draft law lands as Seoul accelerates a controlled opening to digital assets. Earlier this month, authorities confirmed they will allow spot crypto exchange-traded funds, including a Bitcoin ETF, from 2026, and invited institutions to apply for licenses to issue the products. Lawmakers have also approved tokenized securities via amendments to the Capital Markets Act, enabling brokerages and other intermediaries to handle on‑chain representations of traditional assets.
In parallel, South Korea has scrapped a ban that prevented venture capital from backing crypto firms, a move that, combined with the new bill, signals a deliberate shift toward a more explicitly pro‑crypto regulatory environment.
