South Korea crypto industry to win no matter snap election outcome
South Korea's crypto scene will gain either way in the country's presidential elections, as both candidates have run on pro-crypto platforms, pledged to ease regulations and expand crypto access.
South Koreans will head to the polls on June 3 to elect a new president in a snap election to replace Yoon Suk-yeol, who was impeached and removed from office over his attempt to declare martial law in December.
Currently leading the polls is Lee Jae-myung of the center-left Democratic Party, who is up against staunch conservative and People Power Party nominee Kim Moon-soo.
Lee has proposed legalizing spot crypto exchange-traded funds and wants to allow South Korea's $884 billion national pension fund to invest in cryptocurrency.
He has also advocated for wider issuance of a stablecoin backed by the South Korean won as part of modernizing the country's financial system and stemming capital outflows.
'We need to establish a won-backed stablecoin market to prevent national wealth from leaking overseas,' he said during a policy discussion in May. 'I will create a safe investment environment so that young people can build assets and plan for the future.'
Lee also aims to ease strict banking rules that require crypto exchanges to partner with licensed banks to offer fiat services.
Kim also supports legalizing spot crypto ETFs and backed Lee's proposal, showing rare bipartisan alignment. He has also pledged to ease regulations and expand crypto adoption.
Simon Seojoon Kim, the CEO of Seoul-based venture capital firm Hashed Ventures, told Bloomberg that with all the major candidates supporting pro-crypto policies, 'the country's crypto investors face a clear win regardless of the election outcome.'
A Gallup Korea poll on May 28 showed 49% of respondents favoured Lee, while 36% said they would vote for Kim. Urgency for clear regulations
The urgency for clear regulation stems from South Korea's high retail crypto participation. Stricter regulations were implemented in July 2024 to impose strict requirements on exchanges, including potential life sentences for criminal violations.
On May 20, the country's Financial Services Commission finalized sweeping new measures, introducing new guidelines for nonprofit crypto sales and stricter listing standards for exchanges.
South Korea's Democratic Party also launched a Digital Asset Committee focused on developing cryptocurrency policies and promoting industry growth in May.
South Korea has one of the world's most active crypto markets, and daily trading volumes on crypto exchanges sometimes exceed the country's major stock indexes, with user numbers recently surpassing 16 million.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-presidential-election-crypto-industry-gains
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Crypto Insight
6 hours ago
- Crypto Insight
Crypto VC deals hit 2025 low despite $909M raised in May
Cryptocurrency investment deals fell to their lowest point of 2025, as analysts cited a mix of market-specific and macroeconomic factors behind weakening venture capital (VC) activity. Only 62 rounds were completed in May, a monthly low last seen in January 2021, according to data from crypto analytics platform RootData. Despite the drop, the 62 investment rounds still raised more than $909 million, making it the second-best month of the year by value, trailing only March's $2.89 billion across 78 rounds The slowdown is likely a 'combination of market prices and sentiment,' as both 'peaked at the end of January and rebounded only in April, before ranging from May 23 on deterioration of tariff rhetoric,' said Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen. A challenging 'macro backdrop' paired with 'higher-for-longer policy rates, jittery bond markets and fresh tariff headlines have made it harder for risk assets to get new M&A deals over the finish line,' according to Patrick Heusser, head of lending at Sentora and a former investment banker: 'Most of the transactions we are seeing are consolidation plays, a pattern that typically emerges in cooling markets or after extended periods of range-bound pricing.' The disappointing year-to-date performance of most crypto assets added to the lack of interest, with Bitcoin 'standing out as a rare bright spot,' he added. M&A activity remains strong Despite the drop in venture deals, merger and acquisition activity remained robust. Coinbase Global acquired Deribit for $2.9 billion in a traditional merger and acquisition (M&A), the exchange announced on May 8. 'I also see many large deals going through the traditional liquid channels,' said Nansen's Barthere, adding that more crypto regulatory clarity will benefit 'direct deals between large companies and protocols, away from the VC market.' The $2.9 billion marks a new all-time high for crypto M&As, according to RootData sourced by Blockworks. The slowdown in VC deals may also be a function of 'seasonal patterns,' for May and June, according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operations officer at blockchain oracle firm RedStone. 'Macro conditions certainly play a role, but I'd expect activity to pick up again as we head into early Q4; that's historically when the best deals get done and investors return from summer mode,' he told Cointelegraph. Source:
Crypto Insight
14 hours ago
- Crypto Insight
FCA-registered BCP launches British pound stablecoin
BCP Technologies, a United Kingdom-registered cryptocurrency firm, has launched a new British pound-backed stablecoin. The company revealed the rollout of its Tokenised GBP (tGBP) stablecoin in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on June 3. TGBP is now live on BCP Technologies-operated crypto trading platform, BCP Markets, and is available to customers who pass Know Your Customer checks, with major exchanges expected to list tGBP in the coming weeks. 'There are two large exchanges that we are finalising details with. We are hoping to be able to announce these in the following weeks,' BCP Technologies CEO Benoit Marzouk told Cointelegraph. 'Live proof-of-concept for future FCA stablecoin regulation' TGBP's launch comes days after the UK Financial Conduct Authority launched a public consultation on proposed new rules for stablecoin issuers and crypto custody providers on May 28. According to Marzouk, BCP Technologies is in a unique situation where tGBP might be considered a 'live proof-of-concept for future FCA stablecoin regulation.' 'BCP works closely with the FCA, and will participate in the FCA roundtable discussion on July 4 on the recently published consultation paper,' the CEO said. The launch follows a 14-month submission process as a new product in the FCA Connect and a one-month review in the FCA regulatory sandbox. 1:1 stablecoin issued on Ethereum TGBP is backed fully with cash held in a segregated bank account, with each token minted representing 1 British pound. The stablecoin is launched as an ERC-20 token, meaning that it is initially issued on the Ethereum blockchain. 'BCP proposes in the future to back tGBP with short-term UK government bonds, in line with the FCA discussion paper,' Marzouk told Cointelegraph. Acting as the issuer, BCP Technologies has been an FCA-registered crypto asset service provider since 2021, formerly known as BitcoinPoint, according to official FCA records. 'Historically, it was a platform 'BitcoinPoint' to democratise access to Bitcoin, where anyone could buy Bitcoin easily,' Marzouk said, adding: 'When the regulation came in 2020, BCP had to stop cash and pivoted into a more standard 'buy online' app. BCP was the first crypto company to implement open banking; you could buy Bitcoin by linking your bank account instantly.' Multiple use cases At launch, tGBP targets a broad range of use cases, including self-custody for retail and corporations as an alternative to banks, cross-border payments, institutional collateral management and decentralized finance lending. The new stablecoin is also expected to be used as the main pound rail for settling tokenised assets like bonds, securities or real estate, Marzouk said. 'Stablecoins enable open, instant, and frictionless transfers, free from volatility. Our vision is to abstract the complexity of blockchain with the familiarity of a GBP denomination, ultimately replacing GBP e-money with our GBP stablecoin,' the CEO stated in the announcement. Limited availability of pound stablecoins BCP's launch enters a market with limited competition. According to data from CoinGecko, there are only two tracked pound stablecoins at the time of writing, including VNX British Pound (VGBP) and Celo British Pound (CGBP), with a combined market cap of less than $500,000. Other pound stablecoin projects include the 'poundtoken' (GBPT) stablecoin launched by Blackfridge in 2022 and a pound (GBPA) stablecoin developed by the Digital Pound Foundation member Agant. Tether, issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDt, attempted to launch a pound stablecoin in 2022, but it has not achieved significant adoption in the market. Source:
Crypto Insight
16 hours ago
- Crypto Insight
Dubai regulator greenlights Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the financial regulator in charge of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), has approved Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin. Following the approval, DIFC companies can now use the RLUSD stablecoin for various virtual asset services. These may include payments, treasury management and services. The DIFC is a free economic zone and financial district that serves companies throughout the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The financial zone had nearly 7,000 registered businesses by the end of 2024. Under the DIFC's crypto framework, only tokens recognized by the DFSA may be used across the district's regulated ecosystem. Ripple sees 'huge interest' from UAE businesses Ripple said businesses in the UAE are growing increasingly interested in crypto solutions. 'The UAE's digital economy is vibrant and incredibly dynamic,' said Reece Merrick, Ripple's managing director for the Middle East and Africa. 'We're seeing huge interest from businesses of all sizes for cross-border payments and digital asset custody solutions,' Merrick added. Ripple said it is working with several local partners, including digital bank Zand and fintech platform Mamo, which are expected to be early adopters of the company's regulated payment services. In addition, Ripple said RLUSD will support the Dubai Land Department's real estate tokenization initiative. The company said the project will record title deeds on the XRP Ledger. On March 19, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) announced that it had started the pilot phase of its real-estate tokenization project. The project aims to be a registration entity implementing blockchain-based tokenization on property title deeds. Ripple expands global operations The RLUSD stablecoin approval follows Ripple's recent DFSA licensing. On March 13, the company said it had received a full license to operate in the DIFC. RLUSD is among the few stablecoins globally approved under the DFSA's crypto token regime and the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Trust Company Charter. On Dec. 10, the NYDFS approved the stablecoin. Apart from the RLUSD stablecoin, the DFSA has recognized Circle-issued stablecoins USDC and EURC (EURC) and approved their use in the DIFC free economic zone. Source:
