Lee Jae-myung's Camp: "National Pension Service Already Indirectly Investing in Coins... Will Establish Direct Investment System"

The Digital Asset Committee under the election campaign committee of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, has formalized its position to establish an institutional foundation for the National Pension Service's direct investment in digital assets. This is a direct rebuttal to the criticism of 'speculation' raised against the plan to allow the National Pension Service to invest in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies).

According to the industry on the 17th, the Digital Asset Committee under the election campaign committee stated in a position paper, "The declaration that pension funds, including the National Pension Service, invest in digital assets is not speculative immersion but a controlled and scientifically diversified investment strategy that complies with international optimization models," adding, "Ignoring digital assets due to emotional aversion is a risk of falling behind in the global financial flow, losing monetary sovereignty, and missing growth opportunities for national assets." This is interpreted as a response to the criticism raised against the pledge to incorporate virtual assets into the institutional framework and the plan to allow the National Pension Service to invest.

Previously, the committee announced plans to introduce a stablecoin based on the Korean won and a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) with digital assets as underlying assets. Accordingly, the plan is to incorporate digital assets into the institutional framework and secure value stability to create a foundation for institutional investors, including the National Pension Service, to invest. However, some have raised concerns that it exposes national assets to speculation due to high volatility.

In response, the committee emphasized, "Digital assets can be a target for diversified investment as they have a low correlation with existing asset classes such as stocks and bonds," and "this is not reckless betting but a strategy faithful to traditional investment theory."

The committee also cited examples of digital asset investments by major global pension funds. Singapore's Temasek is investing in blockchain infrastructure and Web3 companies, Australia's AMP pension fund and Michigan's pension fund in the U.S. are known to have allocated about 3% of their total assets to Bitcoin, and the UK's pension specialist Cartwright has allocated about 3% of its total assets to Bitcoin. The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) in the U.S. has also invested in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs as well as in the Bitcoin investment company Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy).

The committee also emphasized that the National Pension Service is already indirectly investing in companies related to digital assets. The committee explained, "BlackRock has launched a digital asset ETF and established a tokenization platform, and the National Pension Service has made significant investments in BlackRock," adding, "It has also already invested large sums in MicroStrategy and Coinbase, the largest virtual asset exchange in the U.S."

Furthermore, the committee stated, "Contrary to claims that it is absurd for the National Pension Service to invest in cryptocurrencies, it is already indirectly investing in assets linked to digital assets," adding, "The introduction of digital assets is not reckless betting but rather part of an investment strategy faithful to traditional theory." The committee also added, "Our plan is to establish an institutional foundation to enable direct investment in the future."

Meanwhile, the Digital Asset Committee plans to promote legislative and supervisory system improvements to establish value stability and legal grounds for digital assets through future incorporation into the institutional framework, enabling the National Pension Service to establish a direct investment process reflecting domestic and international regulations.