"Digital Asset Basic Act excluded from Political Affairs Committee agenda…deadlock over major shareholder requirements·supervisory framework"

The second-stage basic law on digital assets, which includes stablecoin regulation, has been removed from the National Assembly review agenda, making passage within the year appear less likely. The main reason cited is that disagreements over major shareholder requirements and supervisory authority between the financial authorities, the Bank of Korea, and the industry have not been resolved.

According to industry sources on the 25th, the Digital Asset Basic Act draft containing stablecoin regulatory provisions was excluded from the agenda at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee's First Subcommittee on Bill Review held the previous day. It was reported that, with inter-agency issues unresolved, there is a strong sentiment that it would be difficult to advance the bill through lawmakers' private bills alone.

The core issues are the issuer of won-denominated stablecoins and the major shareholder requirements. The Bank of Korea maintains that a consortium of banks should hold at least 51% of the stablecoin issuer's shares. The virtual asset industry, however, warns that if banks participate as major shareholders, the technical scalability and innovativeness of stablecoins could be hindered.

The allocation of supervisory powers remains another issue. The Bank of Korea is demanding joint inspection rights over stablecoin issuers, while the financial authorities say that would be excessive authority.

Currently, bills related to stablecoins have been proposed in the National Assembly by Rep. Kim Eun-hye (People Power Party), Rep. Ahn Do-geol, and Rep. Kim Hyun-jung (Democratic Party of Korea). However, since issues among the relevant agencies have not been resolved, it appears that more time will be needed for full review.