The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea refuted rumors that it plans to release a roadmap allowing corporate crypto accounts by the year’s end.
Notwithstanding local reports, the financial watchdog stated that talks are still underway.
According to unnamed sources Korea Economic Daily quoted, the FSC has drafted a tiered plan to permit corporate cryptocurrency trading, beginning in 2025, with local governments and colleges. According to the outlet, companies and financial institutions are anticipated to follow in later phases.
However, the FSC stated on December 4 that talks were still going on and that no decisions had been made.
The topic of corporate real-name accounts for virtual assets is still up for debate, and concrete solutions have yet to be decided upon. Thus, please be careful when reporting,” the FSC stated.
A crypto committee that the FSC recently established met for the first time on November 6 to talk about removing limitations on institutional crypto participation.
Companies in South Korea are prohibited from trading cryptocurrencies on exchanges that provide fiat-to-crypto services.
According to local laws, investors must utilize real-name accounts at banks that have been granted licenses and have cooperated with bitcoin exchanges. By anti-money laundering regulations, banks often forbid firms from opening such accounts, and just five exchanges have formed such partnerships.
Retail investors have dominated South Korea’s cryptocurrency market without corporate involvement, making the Korean won one of the top fiat trading pairs for cryptocurrencies globally earlier this year.
During a brief political crisis this week, the size of South Korea’s cryptocurrency sector was brought to light. The National Assembly reversed President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, which the president withdrew six hours later.
According to local media research, this six-hour timeframe was a portion of the country’s almost $35 billion 24-hour cryptocurrency trading volume.
Up to October 2024, this amount exceeded Indonesia’s total bitcoin trading volume. According to the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, Indonesia is third.
