DAXA Publishes Policy Brief on Digital-Asset Institutionalization in South Korea

The Digital Asset eXchange Alliance, or DAXA, said on October 7 that it has published its “Digital Asset Policy Brief for the Second Half of 2026,” outlining policy tasks needed to institutionalize South Korea’s digital-asset market and the future direction of regulation.

The publication is a follow-up to a first-half brief issued this year on global digital-finance issues including stablecoins and real-world asset tokens, or RWAs. It is DAXA’s third policy brief since releasing the first volume last year.

DAXA said discussions in South Korea over institutionalizing digital assets have accelerated since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect, increasing the need for a more detailed review of a regulatory framework covering the market as a whole. The brief focuses on user protection and market surveillance, as well as business governance, payments and settlement, foreign investment and anti-money laundering, or AML.

Nine DAXA advisory members from financial research institutes, academia and the legal profession took part in producing the brief. Experts in each field were responsible for the research and writing, while Ahn Soo-hyun, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Law School, oversaw the full volume.

Key research topics include the need for and significance of digital-asset institutionalization, a roadmap for building the system, standardization of supervisory data, improvements to user-protection frameworks, a market-surveillance model suited to domestic market conditions and the design of governance structures.

The brief also covers policy issues emerging as the industry expands. It analyzes the regulatory direction for digital-asset payments and settlement businesses, money-laundering risks and control measures that could arise if foreign investment is allowed, the overseas relocation of South Korean digital-asset companies, the policy direction of a Digital Asset Basic Act and AML frameworks related to stablecoins. The views presented in the brief are those of the individual authors and may differ from DAXA’s official position.

DAXA has made the brief available on its website under the “Publications-Policy Briefs” section for use by policymakers, academics, digital-asset industry participants and retail users.

In a foreword, DAXA Chairman Oh Se-jin said that, based on experience accumulated since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect, the most important task now is establishing a basic legal framework covering the industry as a whole. He added that he hopes the brief will serve as a practical reference in shaping South Korea’s digital-asset policy and institutional framework.