Doohyun Hwang

Oh Se-jin, chair of the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), said he believes transparency and trust in the virtual asset market have improved significantly since the enforcement of the User Protection Act. Attending the “Digital Asset Industry Policy Roundtable” hosted on the 14th by the People Power Party’s Special Committee on Stock and Digital Asset Value-Up, Oh said, “With the enforcement of the User Protection Act, regulations on unfair trading have been institutionalized, strengthening user protection,” adding, “Through DAXA’s self-regulatory measures, we have also steadily raised exchanges’ transparency and internal control standards.” Regarding the recently discussed “second-phase virtual asset legislation,” he stressed, “The government’s proposal has not yet been officially announced, but we plan to faithfully convey the industry’s position on the issues being raised,” and added, “I hope industry opinions will be sufficiently reviewed not only during the bill review stage but from the early drafting phase as well.” He continued, “For the medium- to long-term development of the virtual asset market—such as spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and stablecoins—convergence between traditional finance and the virtual asset industry is inevitable,” adding, “I expect the National Assembly to work on legislation that reflects this trend.”

The People Power Party’s “Special Committee on Stock and Digital Asset Value-Up” publicly challenged the government over the direction of regulation surrounding the digital asset industry. The party said that excessively constraining a digital asset market that has grown under private-sector leadership with administrative regulation could undermine the industry’s competitiveness. The People Power Party’s Special Committee on Stock and Digital Asset Value-Up held a “policy roundtable with the digital asset industry” on the 14th at DreamPlus in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. In opening remarks at the meeting, committee chair Kim Sang-hoon said, “Since the previous administration, discussions on revitalizing the asset market have continued through consultations between the party and the government,” adding, “But the government has consistently shown a hesitant stance on market revitalization, citing reasons such as anti-money laundering (AML).” He added, “The digital asset market is, in both name and reality, an industry formed on various achievements built up by the private sector,” but noted that “nevertheless, repeated policy signals that seemed to deny privately accumulated achievements—such as the 2018 controversy over shutting down exchanges and the so-called ‘Park Sang-ki chaos,’ along with remarks that ‘virtual assets have no intrinsic value’—significantly dampened the market.” He continued, “Over the same period, major countries overseas steadily laid the institutional groundwork to foster the digital asset market as next-generation financial infrastructure,” adding, “As a result, the status of digital assets in the global financial order has risen sharply.” He also offered strong criticism of the “20% cap on major shareholders’ stakes in virtual asset service providers,” which has recently triggered fierce backlash from the digital asset industry. Kim said, “I heard news that a government proposal is at the drafting stage that would suddenly limit major shareholders’ stakes in asset exchanges to 20%,” adding, “I understand that representatives from exchanges and the fintech industry will also convey concerns about this.” He stressed, “We need to seriously reflect on what it means for the Korean market to restrict achievements built by the private sector through administrative regulation,” adding, “A review is needed as to whether forced dispersion of ownership is truly a direction that enhances industrial competitiveness and investment incentives.”

Party to craft a consolidated digital-asset bill With government proposal delayed, the Democratic Party activates its own plan Will rules on stablecoins and major shareholders be revised The Democratic Party of Korea’s Digital Asset Task Force (TF) has begun full-scale work to draw up a “party-led proposal” that consolidates digital-asset bills introduced by its lawmakers into a single package. With the government’s Digital Asset Basic Act proposal delayed due to differences between financial authorities and the National Assembly, the move appears to be a pre-emptive response aimed at minimizing a legislative vacuum. On the 13th, the office of Rep. Lee Jung-moon, who chairs the Digital Asset TF, told Bloomingbit, “We plan to release the Democratic Party’s own proposal that integrates the digital-asset bills introduced by TF members,” adding that it “has entered the drafting stage.” The office noted, “As this is still the initial stage, the timing of the announcement has not yet been decided.” The TF’s plan is to organize the key issues in the bills introduced by its members, bundle them into a single consolidated bill, and submit it to the National Assembly. Previously, TF members including Min Byung-deok, Ahn Do-geol, Lee Kang-il and Kim Hyun-jung have introduced digital-asset-related bills. The government proposal currently being prepared under the leadership of financial authorities initially targeted submission to the National Assembly in December last year, but the schedule has continued to slip due to differences between the Financial Services Commission and the National Assembly. In particular, it is said that the gap has not narrowed over whether to allow stablecoin issuance by a consortium in which banks hold a majority stake (50%+1) or more. Against this backdrop, the Democratic Party’s Digital Asset TF moving to prepare a consolidated bill follows its existing stance that it would pursue separate party-level legislation if delays to the government proposal become protracted. The TF has previously said it would review its own alternatives if submission of the government proposal keeps being postponed. Given the Democratic Party’s posture of actively reflecting the industry’s views, the consolidated proposal is expected to include a substantial amount of content that conflicts with the government proposal. With industry pushback strong against limiting stablecoin issuers to bank-majority consortia, whether that provision will be adjusted is seen as a key issue. Another point of interest is whether the consolidated proposal will include provisions opposing limits on the ownership stake of major shareholders in crypto exchanges. The Financial Services Commission is reviewing a plan to cap major shareholders’ stakes in crypto exchanges at 15~20%, in line with the level applied to alternative trading systems (ATS) under the Capital Markets Act. The industry has criticized this as a regulation that cannot be found anywhere. A TF official said, “We understand that industry opposition to the government proposal is significant,” adding, “Our goal is to draft a first version this week and move quickly into fleshing it out.” Hwang Do-hyun, Bloomingbit reporter cow5361@bloomingbit.io

Infinex, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, said on the 13th that it is building an integrated on-chain access layer designed to deliver an execution experience comparable to centralized exchanges while maintaining a non-custodial architecture. Infinex is a DeFi platform that advocates an architecture integrating a wallet, portfolio management, and a trading interface within a single application. The company said it plans to create a general-purpose on-chain access environment by combining gas abstraction, multichain support spanning more than 250 chains, in-app integrations, and a browser extension. It has also fully adopted passkey-based authentication to lower the entry barrier of traditional seed-phrase-based onboarding. The design aims to reduce users’ burden of key custody and recovery while improving cross-device accessibility and ease of use. The DeFi ecosystem has become highly sophisticated at the protocol level. However, the user execution process remains fragmented, leading many users to rely on centralized exchanges in parallel to carry out actual trades. Infinex believes a user-friendly interface could be a key factor in expanding DeFi adoption going forward. Kain Warwick, founder of Infinex, said, “Passkey-based authentication can support switching between mobile and desktop, as well as logging in on multiple devices, with lower friction,” adding, “Our goal is to deliver centralized-exchange-level execution quality while maintaining a non-custodial architecture. We plan to continue a phased expansion going forward, centered on product completeness and execution capabilities.”

"Stablecoin cards" are expected to surge as a key buzzword poised to reshape the global payments landscape this year. The idea is that this model—preserving blockchain efficiency while offering consumers a familiar card-payment experience—could become a new standard for the fintech industry. On the 9th (local time), Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly, wrote on X that "stablecoin cards are growing like crazy globally," adding that "digital assets permeating deep into the payment flows of the global economy will be the biggest theme of this year." He explained that "consumers don't even know there's a coin behind the payment stack," and that they "only experience the convenience of being able to buy and pay in dollars anytime, anywhere." In fact, the sector’s growth is steep. Rain, a stablecoin payments infrastructure startup, recently secured US$250 million in funding. The round put Rain’s valuation at nearly US$2 billion. The outlook for the stablecoin market is also bright. In a recent report, Bloomberg Intelligence forecast that stablecoin payment volumes will grow 81% per year on average, reaching US$56.6 trillion by 2030. Still, views are divided on whether stablecoin cards can replace existing credit and debit cards in developed markets. Better Tomorrow Ventures took a skeptical stance, saying that "stablecoin payments still lack a loyal customer base or proprietary network effects, and incentives strong enough to pull consumers in are limited." By contrast, Mason Nystrom of Pantera Capital said that "stablecoin payments offer merchants clear benefits such as instant settlement and chargeback prevention," predicting that "stablecoin rails will encroach on the entire fintech stack, and some incumbents will be displaced."

Nasdaq and CME Group have joined forces to introduce a new digital-asset (cryptocurrency) benchmark index for institutional investors. On the 8th (local time), Nasdaq and CME Group announced they will rebrand the existing “Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI)” as the “Nasdaq CME Crypto Index (Nasdaq CME Crypto Index·NCI)” and deepen their partnership. The new index name will take effect officially from the 20th. The two firms stressed that the collaboration goes beyond a simple name change, amounting to a consolidation of market standards. Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Equity and Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group, said, “This is not just a name change,” adding that “two standards have come together to lay the groundwork for the regulatory compliance and portfolio diversification the market demands.” Sean Wasserman, Head of Index Product Management at Nasdaq (CFA), said, “As regulatory clarity around digital assets is taking shape—particularly in the United States—the door has opened for institutions to adopt trusted, regulated investment solutions,” adding, “Where the early market was concentrated in specific assets such as Bitcoin, it is now evolving toward index-based strategies that track the broader market.” He added, “Investors now want an index-based approach that goes beyond Bitcoin,” noting that “this mirrors the trajectory in other asset classes such as equities, where indexes have become established as benchmarks representing the overall market.”

The government is officially moving to introduce spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for virtual assets (cryptocurrencies). It also decided to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins within the first quarter of this year to legitimize companies’ cross-border fund transfers. On the 9th, the Ministry of Finance and Economy announced the “2026 Economic Growth Strategy,” including these measures, at the “National Briefing on the Economic Growth Strategy” held at the Blue House. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun-cheol stressed that “alongside the great AI transition, we will lead the way in the economy’s rebound through innovation in digital assets.” To improve convenience for investors, the government will push in earnest for the introduction of “spot digital-asset ETFs.” This is seen as an intention to keep pace with the trend in major countries such as the United States, which have approved spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and brought them into the regulated financial system. In tandem, it plans to institutionalize the stablecoin (fiat-pegged virtual asset) market by completing “phase-two digital-asset legislation” within the first quarter. Going forward, stablecoin issuers will be required to obtain government authorization and pass capital-adequacy screening. In particular, to prevent failures such as the “Terra–Luna incident,” the government will mandate that issuers hold safe assets worth at least 100% of the amount issued and will legally guarantee users’ redemption rights. With the legal foundation in place, companies’ cross-border stablecoin transfers and transactions are also expected to become possible within a legal framework. The government’s treasury cash management system will also be revamped on a blockchain basis. The government presented a goal of disbursing one quarter of total treasury funds in digital currency by 2030. Starting in the first half of this year, “deposit tokens (Deposit Token)” will be piloted in projects to build EV charging infrastructure. The idea is to pay subsidies in tokens rather than cash to block fraudulent claims at the source and shorten complex settlement periods. Under the scheme, tokens that can be immediately converted into cash will be paid once the installation of eligible chargers is verified. To this end, the government plans to revise relevant laws and regulations—including the Bank of Korea Act and the Treasury Funds Management Act—within this year, and to distribute official e-wallets that allow payments such as public officials’ operating expenses to be made in deposit tokens, linking them with the national fiscal system.

Venture capital (VC) firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) identified three key keywords that will define this year’s digital-asset (crypto) market: ▲ smarter prediction markets ▲ broader adoption of zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs ▲ the rise of staked media. On the 9th (local time), a16z Crypto released its “2026 Industry Outlook,” compiling analysis from its researchers and partners, and made the announcement. Andy Hall, a professor of political economy at Stanford University and a16z research advisor, said he expects “prediction markets to get bigger and smarter.” He added that “by 2026, not only major events like elections but also complex, granular social phenomena will be trackable through real-time odds.” A particularly notable point is the combination with AI. Hall said “AI agents will scour global information to gain a short-term trading edge and help improve the accuracy of forecasts for political and social events.” He also predicted that, to resolve disputes that arose when centralized platforms monopolized outcome resolution, decentralized governance and large language model (LLM) oracles will serve as arbiters to determine the “truth.” Justin Thaler, an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, said “zero-knowledge proof (SNARKs) technology will transform the cloud computing market beyond blockchains.” Until now, ZK technology had been impractical outside blockchains because computation verification required massive resources. Thaler explained that “this year, the efficiency of zkVM (zero-knowledge virtual machine) proving will improve dramatically, reducing overhead by a factor of 10,000 versus existing levels,” adding that “it will be usable even on smartphones.” He said, “This makes it possible for a single GPU (graphics processing unit) to verify a CPU’s work in real time,” and predicted that “an era of ‘verifiable cloud computing’ will open, allowing low-cost proofs that work performed in the cloud was executed correctly.” Robert Hackett, an editor at a16z, stressed that amid a flood of limitless content and misinformation produced by generative AI, “staked media” will emerge as a new alternative. Staked media refers to a format in which a speaker stakes digital assets against a claim or forecast to back credibility. Hackett said, “We’re past the point where simply claiming to be ‘objective’ is enough,” and added that “a model that demonstrates truthfulness by taking on financial risk for one’s statements will draw attention.” For example, a podcaster could lock up tokens to prove there is no intent to engage in a “pump and dump” (price manipulation), or an analyst could link forecasts to on-chain markets and publish a transparent track record.

With the release of the December jobs report—set to provide a read on the state of the U.S. labor market—imminent, divisions within the Federal Reserve (Fed) over interest-rate policy are instead deepening. On the 8th (local time), Reuters reported that as the labor data send mixed signals, the gap in views between “hawks” (favoring tighter policy) who cannot let go of inflation concerns and “doves” (favoring easier policy) seeking to support growth has widened to its largest in decades. On the day, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the December nonfarm payrolls report. Economists expect payrolls to rise by 60,000, while the unemployment rate is seen edging down to 4.5% from the prior month’s 4.6%. The problem is that previously released leading indicators are sending contradictory signals, amplifying market uncertainty. Private payrolls for December published by ADP, a private employment research firm, came in below expectations, showing weakness. By contrast, the ISM services employment index over the same period hit its highest level in about a year. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also remains open to interpretation: while job openings in November fell far more than expected, layoffs plunged. Reuters noted, “There is agreement on the broad trend that the labor market is slowing, but it is questionable whether conditions are dire enough to justify further cuts after rates have already been lowered by 175bp (1.75% points).” Inflation is currently approaching 3%, above the Fed’s 2% target. Cracks are also emerging inside the Fed. At the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting last December, there were three dissenting votes for the first time since 2019. In particular, the dot plot showed that 7 of the 19 participants argued for holding rates steady or raising them. With President Donald Trump expected to nominate a successor to Chair Jerome Powell later this month, a leadership transition at the Fed is another variable. Powell, who steps down in May, has been seen as a leading dove and a broker. But as the voices of regional Fed bank presidents worried about persistent inflation grow louder, his ability to hold the committee together is seen as weaker than before. On Wall Street, expectations are leaning toward the Fed maintaining a wait-and-see stance for the time being. The rate-futures market indicates that an additional rate cut (0.25% points) will not be fully priced in through June.

As the U.S. Senate Banking Committee pushes to consider a market-structure bill for virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) (the Clarity bill), Democrats are expected to cause last-minute wrangling by demanding strengthened regulation of decentralized finance (DeFi) and other tough conditions. On the 6th (local time), Alex Son, head of Galaxy Research, posted on his X, "Today both parties met to discuss key demands for the bill's passage," and released the main documents discussed at the meeting. According to the released details, Democrats are demanding stringent regulation of the DeFi sector. Key demands include ▲mandatory sanctions compliance for DeFi front-ends ▲expanded Treasury Department special measures authority for anti-money laundering ▲establishment of regulations for non-decentralized projects masquerading as DeFi. They also call for significantly strengthened investor protection measures. Along with reclassification of virtual assets, Democrats demanded ▲new consumer protection provisions for virtual asset ATMs and at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ▲addition of provisions to prevent evasion of securities laws. In particular, the package includes provisions that could burden the industry, such as setting the maximum fundraising cap for virtual asset issuers at $200 million, and requiring contracting parties to pre-report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the contract is not a security. Son said, "Republicans are pressuring the Senate Banking Committee to take up the bill next Thursday, January 15," and assessed, "however, many issues remain unresolved, so it is uncertain whether the two parties can reach agreement and pass the bill."

Barclays has made its first investment in a U.S. stablecoin infrastructure firm, accelerating its entry into the digital asset (cryptocurrency) market. On the 6th (local time), according to Reuters and others, Barclays said in a statement that it had acquired a stake in Ubyx, a U.S. stablecoin clearing and settlement firm. It did not disclose the specific investment size or company valuation, but this is the first time Barclays has directly invested in a stablecoin-related company. Ubyx, which launched last year, is a company that develops a clearing system that supports interoperability and intermediates transactions between stablecoins issued by different issuers. Earlier, venture arms of U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase and Galaxy Digital also invested in Ubyx. Barclays said, "This investment is consistent with the bank's approach to exploring new forms of digital currency such as stablecoins," and emphasized, "It will be committed to developing tokenized currency within the regulatory framework." In October, Barclays also formed a consortium with 10 global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, to explore joint issuance of stablecoins linked to Group of Seven (G7) currencies.

Global Web3 security company CertiK said on the 7th that it has entered into a strategic partnership with YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs). Through this cooperation, the two companies will jointly work to strengthen the security capabilities of projects participating in the incubation program 'EASY Residency'. EASY Residency is YZi Labs' global incubation program. It aims to support startup teams in the Web3, artificial intelligence (AI), and biotech sectors to help create long-term value. Specifically, CertiK will establish a dedicated security audit grant fund totaling $1 million to support projects participating in EASY Residency. CertiK plans to provide various security services such as formal verification, Skynet Boosting, and AI-based security scans. YZi Labs will actively support collaboration and communication between CertiK and incubation projects, helping project teams better understand and utilize CertiK's products and security service capabilities. Ella Zhang, YZi Labs' head, said, "Security is a core foundation for long-term success, but it is often perceived as a heavy burden by early founders who are still exploring product-market fit (PMF)," adding, "So that founders can focus on the overall structure and vision, CertiK will take on the role of ensuring systems remain robust under any circumstances."

As debate heats up in the U.S. Congress over whether to allow interest (rewards) payments on stablecoins, a warning has emerged that banning them could cede financial leadership to China's 'digital yuan' offensive. On the 6th (local time), Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer (CPO), said on his X, "There are those who misunderstand why providing rewards to U.S.-issued stablecoins under the Genius bill is important," and pointed out that "the People's Bank of China announcing it will pay interest on the digital yuan is timely and an eye-opening development." Shirzad CPO said, "Tokenization is the future, and the Genius bill pushed by President Trump and Congress was a visionary step to make dollar stablecoins issued under U.S. rules a key payment method of the future." However, he expressed concern as the reward-providing function of stablecoins faces the risk of being restricted during the market structure bill negotiations currently underway in the Senate. He said, "If this issue is mishandled in the Senate negotiations, it would hand a decisive competitive advantage to non-U.S. stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) at the worst possible time," criticizing, "this would be a self-inflicted mistake that greatly helps global competitors." He added, "Lobbyists representing vested interests will always resist change," and "what matters for negotiators is protecting the dollar's hegemony and the U.S. financial system, not the interests of vested powers."

Patrick Liu, Gemini's head of institutional, identified this year as a structural inflection point for the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market. He forecast that as institutional investor entry and macroeconomic factors drive the market, the four-year halving cycle will be nullified. On the 6th (local time), according to BeInCrypto, Liu said, "2026 will be the year existing conventions about the Bitcoin cycle, regulation, and capital flows are broken." Liu first predicted that Bitcoin's traditional 'four-year cycle theory' will come to an end. He said, "In past cycles Bitcoin plunged 75~90% from its peak," and analyzed, "the recent drop of around 30% is evidence that the market has matured." He added, "Inflows through exchange-traded funds (ETF) and the deepening of the derivatives market are absorbing market shocks," and "implied volatility in the options market has also stabilized from the 80% range in the past to the recent 25~40% range, and Bitcoin has evolved from a speculative asset to a macro asset." He also predicted that ahead of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, virtual assets will emerge as a bipartisan policy agenda. He said, "The Republicans reached out to virtual asset voters first, but the Democrats are also accelerating market-structure legislation and actively engaging," and observed, "the Clarity bill pending in the Senate is likely to pass soon through bipartisan agreement." He also forecast national-level Bitcoin purchases. Liu predicted, "At least one country will sell part of its gold reserves to buy Bitcoin." He analyzed that for countries seeking to reduce dollar dependence and diversify assets, Bitcoin's portability and verifiability could be an attractive alternative. In addition, Liu identified as major 2026 trends the explosive growth of prediction markets (Prediction Markets) and the start of restructuring of distressed virtual asset-holding companies (DATs). He cited, in particular, the case of Strategy recording large losses in the last quarter and its stock plunging 60%, saying, "It will be difficult to survive with simple buy strategies alone," and "M&A between companies will become active."