Global Policy Shifts Drive Crypto Market Volatility: Asia and Middle East Lead Regulatory Changes

A snapshot of the crypto market landscape for January 12, 2025, highlighting major institutional developments and digital asset price movements.

Market Price Overview

Bitcoin is currently trading at $91,67K, reflecting a modest gain of +0.92% over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Ethereum has experienced slight downward pressure, declining 0.64% to trade at $3,10K. Among altcoins, Solana (SOL) demonstrated resilience with a +0.85% uptick to $140.96, while XRP retreated by 1.29% to settle at $2.06.

The broader cryptocurrency landscape shows mixed signals as investors digest multiple regulatory developments that could reshape institutional participation in digital assets.

South Korea Opens Doors to Corporate Crypto Capital After Nearly a Decade

In a landmark policy reversal, South Korea has dismantled a longstanding restriction on institutional crypto participation that has been in place for nine years. The country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) now permits public companies and qualified institutional investors to direct up to 5% of their equity capital toward digital asset allocations.

This regulatory reset represents a fundamental shift in how capital markets treat cryptocurrency exposure. Under the new framework, eligible digital assets are confined to the twenty largest cryptocurrencies by market value, with trading restricted to the nation’s five officially licensed platforms.

Policymakers attributed the previous restrictions to approximately $110 billion in crypto capital flight during 2025—a significant economic cost that prompted reconsideration. The FSC has positioned this change as a cornerstone of the government’s 2026 economic modernization initiative, designed to strengthen competitiveness in global capital markets and prevent further domestic investment outflows. Stablecoins remain under review, with regulatory authorities signaling ongoing deliberation regarding their future treatment within the market structure.

US Legislative Pressure: Coinbase Challenges Proposed Stablecoin Restrictions

A major American cryptocurrency platform has threatened to rescind its support for a pivotal Senate cryptocurrency bill, citing concerns over proposed stablecoin yield constraints. The dispute centers on language that would prohibit platforms from offering returns on stablecoin holdings unless they operate as federally regulated banking entities.

Industry observers note this creates a fundamental competitive asymmetry. Traditional banks would retain exclusive privilege to generate stablecoin yield, effectively marginalizing crypto-native firms from a lucrative revenue stream. The platform’s leadership has previously warned that banking sector lobbying would intensify as stablecoin adoption accelerates.

A Senate Banking Committee markup is scheduled for January 15, following multiple postponements throughout 2025. While the firm has filed applications for a national trust charter—a potential pathway to offering compliant yield mechanisms—current leadership prioritizes preserving the non-bank operating model that defines the crypto industry’s value proposition.

Dubai Implements Stricter Digital Asset Protocols: Privacy Coins Face Ban

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has implemented a comprehensive overhaul of digital asset regulations, including an outright prohibition on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Regulators concluded that privacy-oriented coins fundamentally conflict with anti-money laundering obligations and international sanctions frameworks, rendering them incompatible with the Dubai International Financial Centre’s compliance standards.

The updated stablecoin classification further tightens requirements: only fiat-collateralized stablecoins backed by premium, highly liquid reserves now qualify for stablecoin status. Algorithmic variants will be reclassified as ordinary digital tokens subject to standard asset treatment.

These regulations became effective January 12, marking a transition toward responsibility-based compliance models. Rather than relying on pre-approved token registries, licensed institutions must now conduct independent suitability assessments for each digital asset. Firms bear ongoing responsibility for reassessing whether holdings maintain regulatory alignment, shifting compliance burden from centralised regulator lists to distributed institutional judgment.

The crypto market update reveals a landscape in flux: institutional opportunities expanding in Asia while Western and Middle Eastern regulators tighten structural guardrails around market participants and specific asset categories.