South Korea Allegedly Moving Toward Approving Crypto ETFs

On October 10, South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced the establishment of a Virtual Asset Committee to consider the approval of cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

This committee will serve as an advisory body providing guidance to the country’s crypto sector. Led by FSC Vice Chairman Soyong Kim, the committee will consist of representatives from relevant government agencies and nine members from the private sector.

The main focus of the committee will be to address critical issues within South Korea’s digital asset sector, including the resolution of corporate accounts.

Currently, South Korea’s Capital Markets Act bans Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto ETFs, and corporate digital asset accounts are also banned due to anti-money laundering concerns.

In conjunction with this initiative, the FSC founded the Digital Asset Consumer Protection Foundation, a non-profit organization whose idea is to help consumers recover assets from service providers that have gone out of business. The Commission is in the process of reviewing renewal applications from service providers relating to digital assets as many registrations expire in October 2024.