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South Korea Poised to End Nine-Year Corporate Crypto Ban With 5% Cap and Strict Limits

Regulators signal a 5% cap under a tightly controlled regime, with stablecoin treatment still undecided.

Overview

  • The Financial Services Commission circulated draft guidance on January 6 and expects to finalize rules in January or February, with corporate trading anticipated later in 2026 pending enabling legislation.
  • Access would be limited to listed companies and licensed professional investors, with allocations capped at up to 5% of a firm’s equity capital each year.
  • Investments would be restricted to roughly the top 20 cryptocurrencies and executed only on five major regulated domestic exchanges under split‑order and other execution controls.
  • Whether dollar‑pegged stablecoins such as USDT will be permitted remains unresolved, including questions over reserve oversight responsibilities.
  • Market watchers foresee sizable onshore inflows, while the policy sits within a broader agenda that includes potential spot crypto ETFs and a CBDC target to process 25% of treasury transactions by 2030.