South Korea’s newly elected president, Lee Jae – myung, has vowed to legalize spot – bitcoin exchange – traded funds, which could have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market in South Korea. Here are the details:
Campaign Promises: Lee Jae – myung’s campaign platform includes a comprehensive embrace of digital assets. He has pledged to legalize spot – bitcoin ETFs and allow the national pension fund to allocate 1% – 3% of its assets to cryptocurrencies. These promises have been written into his presidential inauguration program. In his victory speech, he emphasized that South Korea must seize the historical opportunity of Web3.0.
Market Impact: On the night of June 3rd, when Lee Jae – myung was elected as the 21st president of South Korea, the trading volume of UPbit, the largest exchange in South Korea, surged by 300%. The premium rate of Bitcoin against the Korean won exceeded 8.7%, which is $2,300 higher than the global average price, reaching a new high since the “Kimchi Premium” in 2024.
Related Policies: The South Korean National Pension Service (with a scale of $850 billion) plans to allocate Bitcoin as a strategic reserve. The Ministry of Finance will take the lead in issuing a Korean – won – pegged stablecoin, requiring 100% fiat – currency reserves and real – time on – chain audits to cut off the erosion of the domestic payment system by US – dollar – denominated stablecoins.
In addition, Lee Jae – myung also plans to introduce an updated “Digital Asset Basic Act” next week. The draft legislation includes reserve requirements (a minimum of 50 billion won), licensing frameworks, and VAT exemptions for crypto swaps, which are clearly designed to mainstream the tokenized won.
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