South Korea presidential front-runner pledges to approve Bitcoin ETFs

South Korea’s Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung has reportedly become the latest presidential candidate to promise the approval of spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other crypto-friendly measures, should he be elected.

Lee announced his crypto promises on May 6 as part of a broader initiative to provide more investment opportunities for Korea’s youth, one of the main target demographics for the fast-approaching June 3 election.

“I will create a safe investment environment so that young people can [build] assets and plan for the future,” The Korea Economic Daily (KED) quoted Lee as saying in Korean.

He also promised the legalization of spot crypto ETFs, lower transaction fees, and more consumer protection measures.

Lee’s Democratic Party of Korea is the favorite to win the presidential election with 42% support, according to a survey conducted by Korea’s National Barometer Survey between April 24 and 30. Korea’s acting president, Han Duck-soo, came in second at 13%.

This is the first time Lee has mentioned crypto as part of his presidential campaign, KED noted. 

The Democratic Party made similar promises in its 2024 general election campaign, including passing spot crypto ETF legalization. However, progress stalled, KED said.

South Korea’s ruling party, the People Power Party, also reportedly made crypto policy promises in late April, which included allowing spot crypto ETFs, dismantling Korea’s controversial one-exchange-one-bank rule, and establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins.

The one-exchange-one-bank rule in South Korea is a regulation that limits each crypto exchange to working with only one local bank. It is intended to prevent money laundering and strengthen transparency by ensuring that the identities of crypto investors can be verified when trading crypto.

South Korean industry officials estimate that 16 million or 31% of the country’s 51.7 million people have access to a crypto account.

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Kim Moon-soo is running as the People Power Party’s candidate — a party previously led by Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached after he declared martial law in December.

The controversial measure triggered a considerable fall in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and other cryptocurrencies. However, most coins recovered when the martial law was lifted around six hours later.

Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon in a unanimous 8–0 decision decision on April 4, effectively removing him from office.

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