South Korea Elects Pro-Bitcoin President, Spot Crypto ETFs on the Way?
Lee Jae-myung took the South Korean presidential oath on Wednesday, after winning with 49.42% of the votes. The pro-crypto president made several vows, including the country’s economic renewal and recovery after the mart...
Archive context
Older archive item. Useful for background and entity history, but not a fresh market-moving signal.
Lee Jae-myung took the South Korean presidential oath on Wednesday, after winning with 49.42% of the votes. The pro-crypto president made several vows, including the country’s economic renewal and recovery after the martial law crisis.
Both leading presidential candidates, Lee Jae-myung (Democratic Party) and Kim Moon-soo (People’s Power Party), are in favor of pro-crypto regulations, indicating a bullish ecosystem, no matter who won.
The country has a large and active crypto market, with over 18 million people dabbling in digital assets.
Per Bloomberg analysis, trading turnover on the country’s exchanges has sometimes exceeded that of the Kospi and Kosdaq stock indices.
Lee Made Several Crypto Vows During CampaignPresident Lee Jae-myung has made a slew of pro-crypto vows as part of his campaign, including spot crypto ETF approvals and cutting down crypto transaction fees.
While speaking at an event in North Chungcheong Province on May 6, he pledged to create “a safer environment for investment.”
“That will help young people build up their assets and plan for the future,” he said at the time.
Lee said his government would institutionalize crypto spot ETFs and that he would build an integrated monitoring system to oversee the crypto sector.
Further, he proposed a won-backed stablecoin in order to stem the 56.8 trillion won ($40.8 billion) crypto outflow. The stablecoin would reduce dependence on foreign coins like USDT and USDC.
Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung proposes a won-backed stablecoin to stop $40.8B in crypto capital flight.#Korea #Stablecoin #LeeJaemyunghttps://t.co/qR1jwd7tXB
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) May 20, 2025 Lee Jae-myung to Push Korea’s Digital Asset Regulatory Framework in 2025Under the new leadership, South Korea would see the second phase of its crypto regulatory framework.
Early this year, a local report suggested that the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) aims to draft the legislation within the second half of this year. South Korea’s first digital asset regulatory framework went into effect in July last year.
Additionally, South Korea formed a digital asset committee, that will play a central role in drafting pledges, driving legislation, and building frameworks for digital assets.
“The goal is to make the Digital Asset Committee directly under the president so that it can have expertise and implement actual policies,” said Rep. Min Byeong-deok, who chairs the committee.
The post South Korea Elects Pro-Bitcoin President, Spot Crypto ETFs on the Way? appeared first on Cryptonews.
Why this matters
This bitcoin story adds another data point to the current market tape and is useful when read alongside nearby source coverage.
Original source
Read on CryptonewsRelated market context
Payward expands xStocks tokenized equities to Hong Kong, UK, Europe, and South Korea
Payward expands xStocks tokenized equities to Hong Kong, UK, Europe, and South Korea, aiming to bring US stock access to over 110...
Crypto lobby TDC sues Illinois to block 0% digital asset tax
TDC sues Illinois to block a 0.2% digital asset tax. XRP reaching $3 by July 2026 at 0.2% YES. The post Crypto lobby TDC sues Illi...
Korbit sells 15 BTC and 60 ETH as South Korea’s exchanges suffer historic volume collapse
Korbit will sell 15 BTC and 60 ETH to fund operations as South Korea's five major exchanges hit their lowest trading volumes in tw...
London Stock Exchange to launch 24-hour weekday trading venue for digital assets
LSEG to launch LSE 24, a near-continuous weekday trading venue for digital and algorithmic trading, with ETPs expected in the firs...
Kraken parent expands tokenized stocks to Hong Kong, UK and South Korea equities
Payward's xStocks pushes beyond U.S. equities as competition to bring global stock markets onchain accelerates.
Lynq and Nonco Collaborate to Expand Stablecoin Liquidity for Institutional Holders of Tokenized Fund Shares
Settlement network Lynq has partnered with digital asset firm Nonco to provide institutional clients with 24/7 stablecoin liquidit...