South Korea’s Democratic Party Plans to Ask Financial Regulators to Review Banned Spot Bitcoin ETFs

The left-wing Democratic Party of Korea plans to ask financial regulators to review the currently banned trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This marks the party's next move to make spot bitcoin funds available locally. In the April election, the opposition Democratic Party won a major victory, securing 175 of the 300 seats in the local legislature, while the ruling conservative party won 108 seats. The party had promised to allow local financial institutions to launch spot crypto ETFs and allow individual investors to buy these funds through tax-free accounts. A report from BloomingBit cited a member as saying that once the 22nd National Assembly of Korea opens in June, the Democratic Party plans to ask the Financial Services Commission, the country's top financial regulator, to re-examine spot bitcoin ETFs with the aim of opening such products locally. Reportedly, the FSC concluded that there is no legal basis to indicate that bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies can serve as underlying assets for such products, so currently spot bitcoin ETFs cannot be issued or traded.