Coinspeaker
South Korean Regulators to Consult SEC on Bitcoin ETFs
It is difficult to overstate the importance and impact of the spot Bitcoin ETF approval on the industry. On the surface, it is easy to boil its impact down to just the financial aspect but it has also potentially opened the floodgates for more acceptance of crypto investment vehicles all over the world. Case in point, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service has announced that it will be seeking more insight into the spot Bitcoin ETF directly from the SEC.
ETFs Coming to South Korea
This new development was made public at the Financial Supervisory Service in Seoul where the Service unveiled its plan for 2024. As per the report, several visits will be made to major financial markets to discuss the situation back in South Korea.
One of these visits will be to New York to discuss with the SEC Chair Gary Gensler and one of the things to be discussed will be the spot Bitcoin ETF. As the report itself acknowledged, the approval of the spot ETF has had a major impact on asset markets all over the world, and South Korean regulators wish to gain more insight into it.
Crypto watchers will remember that the ETF approval was over a decade in the making and as more ETFs will be pursued all over the world, the SEC’s insight will be invaluable. It could also possibly assuage the concerns that some regulators still have about cryptocurrency.
When spot Bitcoin ETFs were still being denied, some of the reasons that were cited were possible market manipulation, which the industry has been accused of for years. But clearly, the SEC believes that the market’s challenges can be overcome and, thus, the ETF approval.
The ETF was always going to influence more regulators to embrace crypto-centered investment vehicles and if this consultation goes well, more countries beyond just South Korea could be approving them soon. Thus far, South Korea has taken a cautious approach to cryptocurrency; while it allows crypto use, there are also frameworks in place to protect investors and the general public.
In late 2023, for example, the FSS announced new regulations to be enforced starting in July 2024 that would further regulate virtual assets. At the same time, the Bank of Korea has announced that it will be looking into a Central Bank Digital Currency. This is certainly a more accepting attitude than some other countries, notably China, which has outright banned outside cryptocurrencies while introducing its own Digital yuan.
The meeting with the SEC is now another step in its journey of developing its local crypto economy. With all these in mind, the future of crypto in South Korea seems optimistic.
