"More Than Stock Investors"...Where Will the 16 Million Crypto Votes Go? [Hankyung Koala]

Kim Min-seung's ₿ficial

June Election, Where Will the Crypto Sentiment Head?

The number of subscribers to domestic virtual asset exchanges has surpassed 16 million. This figure exceeds the number of homeowners at 15.61 million (November 2023) and stock investors at 14.1 million (December 2024). With less than two months left until the June election, 16 million crypto (referring to Bitcoin, virtual assets, NFTs, digital assets, blockchain, etc.) investors are emerging as a powerful voter group that can influence the election outcome.

Crypto Investors Emerging as a New Political Force

The 'Petition Against Mandatory Reporting of Virtual Asset Personal Wallets' garnered over 50,000 signatures in just over a month, despite not being covered by the media. This indicates that crypto investors are beginning to form a political identity. It is likely influenced by the precedent set in the United States. In the U.S., 52 million crypto investors showed remarkable solidarity by voting for 'crypto-friendly' candidates in last year's election, significantly contributing to the election of 'Crypto President' Trump and the Republican 'Red Sweep.' Therefore, it is not unreasonable to expect that crypto-related pledges will have as much impact as housing and stock investment pledges in this election.

What Does the Crypto Sentiment Want?

What do the 16 million crypto sentiments want? Confidence and pride. Until now, crypto has been socially perceived as a means of money laundering, pyramid schemes, and reckless speculation. Crypto, which suddenly appeared and rapidly grew over a decade ago, seemed strange because it was new, and the 'fear of the unknown' created the perception that the differences between traditional asset classes and crypto were 'wrong.' As scammers who had been active before the advent of crypto began to scam with crypto, the perception that crypto was 'bad' was further reinforced. The media and political circles also jumped on this perception. While failures in stock or real estate investments were attributed to economic conditions or government policies, losses in crypto investments were dismissed as the result of individual ignorance and recklessness.

Even if one makes money with coins, it's bad; if one loses, it's bad; it's just bad. This perception has persisted. Crypto investors were fewer than other asset investors, and as is often the case with minorities, they had to helplessly endure the criticism of the majority. The number of crypto investors, who were constantly vilified by the government, media, and public opinion, has now reached 16 million. Although the perception has somewhat improved since the Bitcoin spot ETF was listed on the U.S. stock market early last year, crypto investors are still reluctant to disclose their crypto investments to relatives or bosses during holidays. They now seek social recognition.

Comprehensive Advancement of the Crypto Industry

How can we give confidence to crypto investors? The perception of 'coins' must change. For this to happen, crypto must be positively positioned in the national discourse. The leadership of the country must officially recognize the existence and future value of crypto as an irreversible global development direction and a future growth engine for our country. Political circles and the media should discuss the direction of fostering and promoting crypto, not blocking it. Comprehensive advancement through administration and legislation, rather than gradual, incremental acceptance, is necessary.

Beyond limited corporate investment allowances, the entry of financial companies and institutions into crypto-related businesses, participation of foreign investors in the domestic market, and the launch of crypto derivatives should be comprehensively pursued to achieve market and industry sophistication and advancement. Systems must be preemptively prepared for the convergence of crypto and institutional finance. The domestic blockchain and crypto industry ecosystem, which has fallen into a withered state, must be actively promoted and restored.

At the same time, the purification of the trading market must proceed. Fraud and price manipulation under the guise of coin investment must be thoroughly uncovered and severely punished, even past cases. Negative issues related to coins, such as fraud under the guise of listing on major exchanges, listing corruption, pump and dump, scam coin issuance, and multi-level coin sales, are all based on the empirical rule that listing on domestic exchanges can generate hundreds of billions of cash through price manipulation. Systematic and strong regulations must be established, along with the self-purification efforts of exchanges, to root out such price manipulation. Only then can the profits from crypto investments be recognized as fair and legitimate investment returns, providing a solid foundation for the social recognition of crypto investors.

We Are Lagging Behind

This is by no means a fanciful story. Since the inauguration of the Trump administration, the U.S. has begun investigating shadow regulation cases of 'debanking' perpetrated by the previous administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is conducting roundtable discussions with industry figures to clarify crypto-related regulations.

In the U.S. Congress, the Stablecoin Regulation Bill is gaining bipartisan support and is rapidly advancing, and the strategic assetization of Bitcoin is being actively pursued at both state and federal levels. Not only the U.S. but also global financial hubs such as Europe, Hong Kong, and Dubai are already institutionalizing and advancing the crypto market and industry. Our country's political circles must recognize this global trend.

Promises to Move 16 Million Votes

The presidential election is the perfect event to trigger a paradigm shift in national discourse. 16 million voters want social recognition, confidence, and pride. They will strongly support candidates who promise to recognize the existence and future of crypto, advance the market, foster the industry, and eradicate illegal activities to build a fair market and ecosystem.

The 16 million investors will listen to the promises of candidates who represent their sentiments. Pledges to crypto investors should not be mere election strategies but rational and forward-looking blueprints for the future of Korea's advanced industry and finance.

Kim Min-seung, Head of Korbit Research Center

Kim Min-seung is...

A founding member and head of the Korbit Research Center. He works to simplify complex events and concepts in the blockchain and virtual asset ecosystem and helps people with different perspectives understand each other. He has experience in blockchain project strategic planning and software development.

▶This article is an external contributor's column introduced to provide various perspectives to cryptocurrency investment newsletter subscribers and does not represent the position of the Korea Economic Daily.

Reporter Jo Mi-hyun mwise@hankyung.com