South Korea's Ruling Party Unveils Sweeping Crypto Bill, Sets Bank-Style Bar for Stablecoins

South Korea's ruling Democratic Party on Wednesday introduced a "Digital Asset Basic Act," laying out a broad legal framework for digital assets spanning issuance, trading, custody and supervision. The draft argues that digital assets are becoming a key link between the real economy and financial markets. It creates a category of "value-linked" digital assets—including tokens pegged to fiat currencies or tied to real-world assets—and would subject issuers to authorization requirements, refund reserves and redemption obligations. The proposal arrives as talks on the Digital Asset Basic Act have been stalled since early this year amid a dispute over who should be permitted to issue won-pegged stablecoins. The Bank of Korea has pushed for limiting issuance to banks with 51% ownership, while the Financial Services Commission has warned such a restriction could curb innovation. The bill says it aims to build a platform for Korea to "lead the global digital financial order." Under the plan, would-be issuers must secure approval and meet standards that include capital thresholds, operational capability and reserve arrangements. It also introduces licensing, registration and reporting obligations for digital asset businesses, covering exchanges, brokerage, custody and advisory services. Additional provisions set rules for disclosures, internal controls and market conduct, including bans on unfair trading such as market manipulation and misuse of nonpublic information. The draft calls for establishing a digital asset committee to coordinate policy, along with national basic and implementation plans for the sector. It notes the current regime is heavily oriented toward investor protection and still lacks a comprehensive framework for issuance, disclosure and market structure. The legislative push follows new measures announced Wednesday by the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service directing all domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to adopt a unified, stringent withdrawal-delay system, aimed at curbing voice phishing scams that exploit rapid transfers.