Democratic Party task force moves to craft compromise, including ‘limits on major shareholders’ stakes’… “Bill may be hard to introduce this month”

The Democratic Party’s Digital Assets Task Force (TF) has decided to prepare a compromise on key contentious issues in the Framework Act on Digital Assets, including limits on major shareholders’ stakes in crypto exchanges.

Rep. Ahn Do-geol of the Democratic Party told reporters after a TF meeting at the National Assembly on the 11th that “it is desirable to introduce the bill with agreed-upon content,” adding that “we should prioritize efforts to create a compromise.” The meeting was attended by Ahn, TF chair Rep. Lee Jung-moon of the Democratic Party, Rep. Min Byung-duk of the Democratic Party, among others.

Regulators maintain that the framework act should include a provision capping major shareholders’ ownership in crypto exchanges at 15–20%. The crypto industry, however, is pushing back against the plan. Views are also divided over regulators’ claim that issuers of won-denominated stablecoins should be limited mainly to banks.

The Democratic Party said that, since it needs to craft a compromise, it may be difficult to introduce the framework act within this month. Asked about the possibility of introducing the bill this month, Ahn said, “It may be difficult,” explaining that “it won’t be easy to produce an agreement right away, and concrete institutional design and drafting of provisions are also needed.”

As for claims that momentum could build for major-shareholder stake limits following Bithumb’s recent erroneous Bitcoin (BTC) payout incident, Ahn drew a line, saying it is “a separate issue.” He added, “We should discuss this based on the elements that need to be examined on their merits,” and noted that “(strengthening internal controls) is already sufficiently reflected in the bill.”