Bitcoin Magazine

Bank of Korea Wants Stablecoins Written Into Forex Law as Crypto Bill and Tax Fight Come to a Head

The Bank of Korea plans to draft an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act with the government before year-end that would regulate stablecoins as a means of payment, according to a written submission to the National Assembly’s annual audit reported by Korean outlet Digital Asset.

The central bank’s October 22 report, a follow-up to last year’s audit, says it is consulting with the government on measures to regulate cross-border transactions in virtual assets. 

While building a monitoring system based on foreign exchange network reporting, the bank said, it plans to prepare the amendment with the government this year to regulate stablecoins as a means of payment, among other aims.

That is a plan to write a bill, not a bill in itself. There is no draft text, no named token and no passage date. And “means of payment” is a defined term in Korean forex law: an instrument whose cross-border movement must be reported. 

On that reading, the amendment would put dollar stablecoins under the same controls as a wire to New York, not make them legal tender at a Seoul convenience store.

The BOK pointed to settlement outside the banking system, mixers and regulatory gaps around personal wallets as factors that ease illegal transactions. Bitcoin holders who self-custody in Korea should take note: the country’s capital controls are the reason the kimchi premium exists, and a tighter forex net around crypto would entrench those controls rather than ease them.

Source link