Corporates in South Korea could soon be allowed to allocate some part of their treasuries towards crypto investments. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea has reportedly shared a document titled “Virtual Currency Trading Guidelines for Listed Corporations” with an internal committee for review and feedback.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, local media reported that final guidelines regulating corporate exposure with crypto is expected to roll out by the end of January or in February.
Despite the ongoing regulatory overhaul around crypto, digital assets are still prone to volatility in the backdrop of geo-political and macro-economic changes. Bitcoin for instance, dropped from its ATH of $120,000 in October to $87,000 in November amid U.S.-China trade tensions last year.
In order to keep corporates safeguarded against the financial losses anticipated with digital assets, Seoul is likely to permit companies to invest upto five percent of their equity capital into crypto to diversify portfolios.
Additionally, corporates will only be allowed to engage with blue-chip crypto assets that make for a significant chunk of South Korea’s total crypto ecosystem.
Whether or not will stablecoin investments be allowed is still reportedly being discussed among South Korean law makers.
Clarity on these regulations remain awaited for now.
South Korean had imposed a ban on corporate engagement with crypto over risks of money laundering back in 2017. Now that the country is looking to regulate the crypto sector and stay at par with other major world economies like the U.S., the UAE, and the EU, opening up corporate inroads into crypto seems like a natural step.
In the first half of 2025 alone, South Korea’s crypto ecosystem logged ten million users, Seoul Economic Daily reported.
In view of the growing crypto culture, South Korea has also declared crypto as seizable assets in criminal investigations. The Asian country is also considering freezing suspicious crypto accounts.