Breaking news late at night! South Korea is undergoing a comprehensive policy shift in the cryptocurrency sector.

🔥 Three major changes:

**1. The gate for corporate participation has opened**
The ban that lasted for 9 years has been officially lifted, meaning listed companies and institutional investors can now openly allocate assets in cryptocurrencies. However, there is a control valve — they can only purchase the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap, with an annual investment limit not exceeding 5% of the company's equity. This reflects a typical "both... and..." regulatory approach.

**2. The tax collection plan is delayed again**
Originally, taxation on crypto investment gains was scheduled to start in 2027 (with a 22% rate on gains exceeding 2.5 million won), but now it appears there are still many unresolved issues in the system details, making a fourth delay highly likely. For the market, this provides a buffer period.

**3. Spot BTC ETF becomes an official goal**
The South Korean government explicitly included the introduction of a spot digital asset ETF (including Bitcoin ETF) in the 2026 economic growth plan. Considering the enthusiasm for ETF markets in the US and Hong Kong, Korea clearly can’t sit still and wants to catch this wave.

🤔 What is the underlying logic?

It’s nothing more than a "regulation with flexibility." The Luna incident taught Korea a profound lesson — pure bans have proven ineffective. The current approach is:

- Incorporate large funds into a regulated framework, with transparent and traceable operations
- Develop compliant products like spot ETFs to guide institutional and international capital into the market
- Put aside the most troublesome issue (tax system) for now, waiting for market and technological maturity
- Strengthen regulation over high-risk areas (such as stablecoins), requiring 100% reserve coverage to prevent another UST disaster

💎 Overall logic:

Korea’s strategic approach is very clear — to create an "orderly openness." Allow market participants to enter legally, but within a transparent and regulated framework. This also means that the channels for traditional financial institutions to enter the crypto space are expanding, but with higher professional standards and more intense market competition.

What do you think about this shift? Is it a sign of a new wave of growth, or just regulation taking a different form? Feel free to share your views.