Chief of South Korean Stock Exchange says crypto should be institutionalized quickly

Jeong Eun-bo, President of the South Korean Stock Exchange, believes that the country must move quickly in institutionalizing the crypto market or risk falling behind other countries.

In an interview with South Korean media outlet Maeil Kyungjae, Eun-bo argued that the crypto market should be institutionalized in the same way as traditional finance to overcome regulatory hurdles.

If they fail to do so, Eun-bo believes South Korea will not be able to compete with countries that have already embraced crypto and introduced regulations that put virtual assets on par with traditional assets.

“If we are vague about our treatment of virtual currency and treat it as a speculative asset, we will fall behind in terms of international competitiveness,” he said.

He emphasized that the adoption of cryptocurrency in the global market has developed so rapidly that it has even managed to surpass the local exchange in terms of transaction volume.

“The average daily trading volume of the domestic stock market is approximately 20 trillion won ($13.9 billion). But the virtual currency market has surpassed this since Donald Trump was elected US President,” Eun-bo said.

The president’s remarks come after he recently attended the World Exchange Market summit, where crypto-related issues were “seriously discussed” during the conference.

At the time of this writing, there are no crypto companies officially listed on the South Korean Stock Exchange, and local companies are still unable to add crypto investments to their balance sheets. Not only that, the country’s government is yet to approve the launch of Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded funds.

According to the report, some in the financial investment industry pointed out that banning spot ETFs that track the price of Bitcoin while allowing leveraged trading for traditional ETFs “makes no sense from an investor protection perspective.”

Unfortunately, financial investors will have to wait a little longer before major changes are made for Bitcoin spot ETFs or the broader crypto market in South Korea.

As previously reported by crypto.news, an official confirmed that South Korea’s National Assembly has decided to suspend all crypto-related regulations until mid-2025 following proceedings for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol.

South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach President Yoon following a brief martial law decree that plunged the country into political crisis, according to the Associated Press. Following the vote, the National Assembly passed resolution 204-85, and Yoon’s presidential powers and duties were suspended.

The Constitutional Court has up to six months to decide whether to proceed with Yoon’s impeachment or reinstate him as president.