South Korea to flip bitcoin ETF stance as part of broader crypto push

What to know

• South Korea plans to allow bitcoin spot ETFs this year, following the lead of the US and Hong Kong.
• A new Digital Asset Act will regulate stablecoins, requiring 100% reserve backing and user redemption rights.
• The government also plans to digitize public funds using deposit tokens and convert 25% of treasury operations to blockchain-based payments by 2030.

South Korea plans to open its markets to spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this year, part of a broader digital asset push led by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) under its 2026 economic growth strategy.

Until now, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin weren’t legally recognized as valid underlying assets for ETFs, blocking the creation of these products in the country.

The FSC appears to be following the lead of other jurisdictions, including the U.S. and Hong Kong, where spot bitcoin ETFs have seen significant success. A BlackRock (BLK) executive even said these funds are the top revenue source at the world’s largest asset manager.

The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) has found that in the first half of last year, the country had 10.7 million users eligible to trade and that average trading volume stood at 6.4 trillion Korean won ($4.39 billion).