Korbit Research Center Releases Report on 'Policy Recommendations in Response to Changes in the Financial Environment'

Korbit Research Center, affiliated with the domestic virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Korbit, announced on the 23rd that it has published a report titled 'Policy Recommendations in Response to Changes in the Financial Environment' to assist the new government's strategy for the digital asset industry.

This report supports the new legal environment being formed around the Digital Asset Framework Act and presents three key tasks necessary for the domestic virtual asset industry to be stably incorporated into the institutional system.

The first is the 'flexible reinterpretation of the separation of banking and commerce principle.' Currently, the separation of banking and commerce in Korea restricts the combination of finance and industrial capital to promote financial stability, but in the digital transformation era, it acts as a structural obstacle impeding collaboration between the virtual asset industry and finance. In particular, while major countries such as the United States and Europe actively pursue strategic alliances with the virtual asset industry through minority equity investments or subsidiary establishments by banks, Korea has virtually blocked direct participation by financial institutions. The report recommends a flexible reinterpretation of the separation principle within the scope of satisfying public interest and risk management standards.

The second task is 'collaboration for securing advanced infrastructure.' The report emphasizes the importance of custody infrastructure to attract institutional investors. It explains that regulatory easing on the establishment of subsidiaries and equity investments is necessary so that traditional financial institutions can strategically participate in core infrastructure such as custody services, tokenized assets, and payment networks.

The final task is the 'clarification of virtual asset regulatory governance.' Currently, the overlapping policy roles among related departments such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Bank of Korea, and the Financial Services Commission are creating policy confusion. Regarding this, the report highlights the urgency of unifying the lead department, dividing roles by function, and establishing a permanent consultative body, and suggests benchmarking overseas cases such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the UAE.

Choi Yoon-young, head of the Korbit Research Center, stated, "Since the virtual asset ecosystem assumes a structure where finance, technology, and industry converge, simply applying the traditional separation of banking and commerce or a single regulatory approach is insufficient." She added, "To build trust-based infrastructure such as custody, payment, and tokenization services, and to accelerate institutionalization, we must restructure regulations to enable strategic cooperation between finance and the virtual asset industry and establish a governance framework that clarifies responsibilities among related agencies."

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