Market Dynamics and Policy Implementation

Legal Entity Participation Mechanism

Phased Opening of Real-name Accounts: Starting in 2025, law enforcement agencies, exchanges, and others will be allowed to open accounts due to 'cash demand'. In the second half of 2025, a pilot program for professional investment legal entities will start, with a medium- to long-term plan to expand to ordinary legal entities.

Surge in Trading Volume: By 2025, the total trading volume of the South Korean cryptocurrency market will exceed 100 trillion won, temporarily surpassing the stock market, with investors over 30 years old accounting for 78%.

Unique Market Phenomena

Kimchi Premium: The price of tokens denominated in won is 3%-5% higher than in the global market, reflecting supply and demand imbalances under capital controls.

Altcoin Dominance: 80% of trading volume comes from tokens outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum, indicating significant speculation.

New Government Policy Direction (Lee Jae-myung's Administration)

Stablecoin Strategy

Korean Won Stablecoin Plan: Promote the domestic Korean won stablecoin market, reduce reliance on US dollar stablecoins (such as USDT), and prevent capital outflow.

Regulatory Sandbox: Allow financial institutions to pilot stablecoin issuance, but they must meet anti-money laundering and reserve disclosure requirements.

Opening up Institutional Investment

Legalization of Spot ETFs: Lee Jae-myung supports the listing of Bitcoin spot ETFs together with the opposition party, expected to be implemented within 2025.

Pension Fund Market Entry: Proposal to allocate part of the $884 billion national pension fund to cryptocurrency assets to attract institutional funds.

Tax Adjustments

Postponement of Capital Gains Tax: The originally scheduled 20% tax on cryptocurrency trading, set for implementation in 2025, has been postponed to 2027 due to immature technology and investor protection mechanisms.