South Korea Digital Asset Basic Act delayed until 2026 after June elections
South Korea has delayed the **Digital Asset Basic Act** by leaving it off the National Policy Committee’s final subcommittee agenda on May 12, ahead of the June 3 local elections. Lawmakers are unlikely to revisit the **Digital Asset Basic Act** before the vote, pushing meaningful review into the second half of 2026.
For traders, the near-term effect is lower regulatory visibility for stablecoins and crypto exchanges. South Korea’s stablecoin rules are expected to be the “second-phase” package, following the 2023 Virtual Asset User Protection Act. The draft framework would require licensing and disclosure for crypto firms, customer-asset custody rules, market conduct limits (including bans on insider trading and market manipulation), and stablecoin reserve/capital standards.
A minimum capital requirement for stablecoin issuers is proposed at 50 billion won (~$35M), but key points remain unresolved—such as whether banks must hold majority stakes in stablecoin ventures and whether there are ownership limits for exchanges and other virtual-asset businesses.
This delay keeps won-backed stablecoin plans and dollar-pegged stablecoin integrations (USDC, USDT) in a compliance wait-and-see mode. Similar “rule-delay” cycles in Asia have tended to slow issuance and integration activity until licensing and reserve requirements become clear. The eventual passage of the **Digital Asset Basic Act** could later reshape liquidity and payment pathways for stablecoins across Asia-Pacific.
Neutral
This is largely a procedural delay rather than a stated policy reversal. In the short term, the postponed **Digital Asset Basic Act** reduces regulatory clarity for stablecoin issuers and exchanges, which can slow compliance-driven product launches and integrations. However, it does not directly signal tighter rules or an outright rejection, so downside to stablecoin trading itself is limited to uncertainty and timing risk. Over the longer term, once the framework resumes after June elections, the eventual licensing, custody, conduct, and reserve/capital rules could improve market structure and liquidity transparency—supporting more sustainable growth.