South Korea’s Democratic Party Gets Into the Crypto Game with a New ‘Digital Asset Committee’

The largest political party in South Korea, the Democratic Party, has decided it’s time to jump into the cryptocurrency pool. They’ve launched a new “Digital Asset Committee” to focus on developing cryptocurrency policies and, of course, promoting the industry’s growth—because why not get involved in digital money while it’s still a thing? 🤑

They held their inaugural meeting at the National Assembly Members’ Hall in Seoul on May 13, as reported by News1. Nothing says “we’re serious about crypto” like a formal gathering in a place that sounds way too official to actually have anything to do with digital currencies.

During this groundbreaking first meeting, the committee made sure to highlight the obvious—namely, that resolving regulatory uncertainty is key, and addressing burning issues like stablecoin regulation is, well, kind of important too. They also mentioned that the US government’s push for US-dollar stablecoins is a little annoying, but we get it, we get it—everybody wants a piece of the pie. 🍰

But wait, there’s more! This isn’t the first time South Korea’s government has dipped its toes into crypto policy. The new committee joins a long list of organizations in South Korea, including the Virtual Asset Committee (which, I’m guessing, was launched in 2024 because why wait?) and another public-private crypto task force from 2022, both set up by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Because if at first you don’t succeed… try, try again with more committees.

Exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb involved

The leadership of the Digital Asset Committee includes South Korean officials and politicians, such as National Assembly Chairman Min Byeong-deok, who probably has a lot of time on his hands as the chairman. Oh, and standing general election committee Chairman Yoon Yeo-joon, Muksanism Committee Chairman Maeng Seong-gyu, and National Assembly members Kim Byeong-gi and Kim Jeong-woo are on board too. I bet they were all thrilled to be included in this crypto-fueled spectacle.

But wait, don’t go just yet! Executives from major local exchanges like Upbit, Bithumb, Coinbit, and Gopax are also making an appearance. They’re probably hoping the committee will push for regulations that favor their wallets—or, I mean, their business. Whatever works.

Criticism of “one-exchange, one bank” rule

At the opening meeting, Chairman Min made it clear that he was not a fan of South Korea’s current “one-exchange, one-bank” rule, which limits crypto exchanges to collaborating with only one bank. He’s not having it. Min reportedly said, “There are clear shortcomings to the one-exchange, one-bank principle,” which sounds like an official way of saying, “Hey, this rule is dumb, let’s fix it.”

The committee is apparently working with regulators to resolve this issue, which makes me think maybe they’ll actually get something done—though who knows, it might just be another well-intentioned committee that goes nowhere. Who doesn’t love a good bureaucratic maze?

Min also mentioned some juicy debates about which regulators should be in charge of stablecoins. Should it be the Bank of Korea or the FSC? If you ask me, they should just flip a coin, but I guess that’s not how things are done in politics. 😜

And in case you were wondering, the Bank of Korea is already shaking in its boots about South Korea’s won-backed stablecoins. A Bank of Korea executive, Koh Kyung-chul, warned that stablecoins could mess with central bank policies, like monetary policy and payment settlements. He’s probably just looking for a good excuse to sit out of the crypto party. I get it, the future is scary.

“Stablecoin has a great impact on the implementation of central bank policies,” Koh said, probably while rolling his eyes. “The negative impact should be minimized by central bank’s practical intervention.” Translation: ‘Let’s keep this under control before it turns into a full-blown mess.’

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2025-05-13 17:18