The South Korean government plans to formulate a stablecoin regulatory bill this year and introduce a digital asset spot ETF

The South Korean government plans to formulate the "Digital Assets (Virtual Assets) Phase 2 Bill," which includes a regulatory framework for stablecoins this year, and will simultaneously launch a cross-border stablecoin trading regulatory scheme linked to this bill. In addition, a digital asset spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) is also planned to be introduced within this year.

On the 5th, the government released the "2026 Economic Growth Strategy," which includes the above content, with the Financial Services Commission as the responsible department. First, the Financial Services Commission will advance the Phase 2 legislation for digital assets. Regarding stablecoins, it is expected to include the following:

• Issuance licensing system (capital requirements, etc.)
• Reserve asset management (maintaining over 100% of the issuance amount)
• Redemption rights, etc. At the same time, a regulatory scheme for cross-border stablecoin transfers and transactions linked to this bill will be developed. The responsible departments are the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Considering that countries and regions like the United States and Hong Kong have already achieved active trading of Bitcoin spot ETFs, this plan also includes allowing digital asset spot ETFs within this year. Previously, in South Korea, due to the fact that digital assets like Bitcoin were not recognized as underlying assets for ETFs, spot ETF trading could not be conducted.

In addition to stablecoins, the government also plans to advance a scheme to utilize a quarter of the national treasury funds in digital currency, referred to as "deposit tokens," by 2030. The government stated that it would revise the "Bank of Korea Act," "National Treasury Fund Management Act," and others after reviewing the results of pilot projects, and establish a legal basis for payment and settlement based on blockchain within the year. Furthermore, there are plans to promote electronic wallets that can be used for payment and settlement of business promotion expenses, among others.