"Current Digital Asset Bills Are Excessive and Inefficient…Better to Leave Them Alone"

A claim was made that South Korea's digital asset industry, despite its sufficient potential, is not properly growing due to excessive and inefficient regulations. It was pointed out that high domestic demand for digital assets is being pushed overseas by regulation.

Rep. Cheon Ha-ram of the Reform New Party attended the Upbit Digital Asset Policy Conference 'DCON 2025' held on the 19th at the Fairmont Ambassador Hotel Grand Ballroom in Yeouido, Seoul, and said, "Current digital asset bills are suppressing the market in the name of regulation," adding, "Young investors are smart. Leaving them alone naturally is rather the way to foster the digital asset industry."

Rep. Cheon cited among the currently enforced digital asset bills ▲restrictions on foreign and corporate investment, ▲1 exchange-1 bank as representative inefficient provisions. He said, "We would be short of asking foreigners to invest in our exchanges. Also, to curb excessive volatility corporate funds need to be supplied, but everything is blocked," and asked, "Wouldn't it be better for South Korea's younger generation to use Korean exchanges rather than necessarily use overseas or non-national exchanges?"

Rep. Cheon explained that such unnecessary provisions cause inconvenience to investors. He said, "For example, the domestic legal sports betting market is stagnant, while the illegal overseas sports betting market is growing at an enormous speed," and "If investors feel inconvenienced, they will increasingly turn away." He added, "The same applies to the digital asset market. If you want to cultivate the domestic digital asset market, you should lower regulatory hurdles, bring in funds, and reduce inconveniences."

Kim Hyeong-nyeon, vice chairman of Dunamu, who participated in the discussion, said, "The saddest recent part was witnessing Korean customers move to stateless exchanges due to regulatory differences," and "Considering the contribution to the national economy, I question whether this is appropriate. If good systems are prepared, we will take the lead in fostering the digital asset industry."