South Korea’s financial regulators are about to make one of their biggest moves in digital asset policy in almost a decade.
They’re looking to lift a long-standing ban and put a 5% cap on how much companies can invest in cryptocurrency, mainly to keep institutional risk in check.
The Financial Services Commission, which leads financial regulation in South Korea, has finished drafting new guidelines.
These would let publicly listed companies and registered professional investors put up to 5% of their equity capital into crypto. This finally replaces the corporate crypto ban that’s been around since 2017.
Once these rules kick in, around 3,500 companies and investment firms could jump into the digital asset markets. Regulators plan to release the final details between January and February 2026.
Real trading under this system probably starts later that year, once everyone’s ready and the last regulatory boxes are checked.
Controlled Entry With Clear Limits
The proposed 5% cap aims to give companies a way into the booming cryptocurrency market, but without letting risk get out of hand. Here’s how it breaks down:
- Investment limit: Publicly traded companies and professional investors can put up to 5% of their equity capital into crypto each year.
- Asset selection: Only the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap make the cut. The focus is on well-established, liquid tokens, not risky or fringe coins.
- Where to buy: Companies have to use one of South Korea’s five biggest regulated exchanges to buy their crypto. This keeps things transparent and easier to monitor.
- Stablecoins: Regulators are still debating whether to allow dollar-pegged stablecoins like USDT. They’re worried about foreign currency risks, transparency, and whether these coins are actually backed by real reserves.
By capping exposure and setting strict rules on what counts as an eligible asset, regulators want to open the market just enough without putting the financial system at risk.
It’s a much tighter approach than what you see in some other countries, where companies face far fewer limits on their crypto investments.
More News: South Korea May Freeze Crypto Accounts in Major Crackdown
Ending a Nine-Year Ban
South Korea’s new policy is a real shift. For years, the country basically blocked companies from putting money into crypto.
That ban kicked in back in 2017, mostly because people worried about money laundering, crazy speculation, and not enough protection for investors. As a result, big Korean companies took their interest in digital assets elsewhere, which made it tough for local firms to keep up with global competition.
But now, things are changing. With new rules on the table, South Korea wants to attract the kind of institutional money that used to leave for foreign markets.
Analysts think that even small investments, just up to 5% of a company’s holdings, could send tens of trillions of won (we’re talking billions of dollars) into the local crypto scene, especially if the big players jump in.
Imagine a giant Korean tech company with trillions of won in equity; under these new rules, they can actually put some serious money into Bitcoin or Ethereum.
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