Korean financial authorities plan to ban corporate investments in stablecoins

Odaily Planet Daily reports that South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is developing a “Corporate Virtual Currency Trading Guidelines,” which will exclude stablecoins from the scope of investment permissions. The guidelines aim to allow listed corporations and registered professional investors to trade digital assets for investment or financial purposes. To prevent disorderly investments in the early market, authorities have decided to exclude USD-pegged stablecoins like USDT and USDC from the permitted scope.

One reason for excluding stablecoins is that South Korea’s current Foreign Exchange Transactions Act does not recognize stablecoins as a means of external payment. Including stablecoins in the investment permission scope would conflict with the existing legal framework, effectively allowing companies to use stablecoins for trade and other commercial purposes indirectly. The South Korean National Assembly is currently reviewing an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, which proposes to recognize stablecoins as a payment method. This bill was introduced last October.

Reportedly, some listed companies with high trade volumes have requested to include stablecoins in the permitted scope to hedge foreign exchange risks. Even if excluded from the guidelines, companies can still trade stablecoins through personal wallets or overseas exchanges. Industry insiders reveal that the relevant working group has completed its work, but the release of the guidelines is tied to the legislative progress of the Digital Asset Basic Law.