South Korean Majority Party Urges Regulatory Department to Reconsider Bitcoin Spot ETF

South Korean Majority Party Urges Regulatory Department to Reconsider Bitcoin Spot ETF

South Korean Majority Party Urges Regulatory Department to Reconsider Bitcoin Spot ETF

According to a report by South Korean media outlet “HankYung,” the Democratic Party of Korea has promised to request financial regulatory agencies to re-evaluate the currently rejected Bitcoin spot ETFs. Previously, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea had refused to approve the issuance or trading of Bitcoin spot ETFs, citing the lack of legal basis indicating that Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies can serve as underlying assets for such products.
However, the opposition Democratic Party achieved a significant victory in the April elections, securing a majority in the National Assembly with 175 out of 300 seats. According to “HankYung,” citing sources from the Democratic Party, once the 22nd National Assembly of South Korea is inaugurated in June, the party will request the FSC to re-evaluate Bitcoin spot ETFs in order to open up such financial products in the country. In addition, the Democratic Party is also considering the option of amending existing financial regulations to prevent the Financial Supervisory Service from unwillingly approving Bitcoin funds.
In comparison to South Korea, Taiwan is currently in a stagnant state regarding Bitcoin ETFs, whether it is the purchase of overseas commodities or the approval of related products. In March of this year, the Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Huang Tianmu, stated during legislative questioning that it is not appropriate to temporarily open up delegated investment in Bitcoin ETFs. The main reason is that Taiwan’s asset positioning for Bitcoin is unclear, and the Securities and Futures Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Commission has already requested domestic securities firms not to accept delegated purchase orders for Bitcoin, and will formulate related measures before the end of April to decide whether delegated investment will cover Bitcoin spot ETFs. However, as of now, there seems to be no progress on this issue.