Uk Jin

Lee Eok-won, chair of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), is expected to personally review incidents and accidents related to virtual assets (cryptocurrencies). According to financial authorities on the 6th, the FSC on the 4th announced a notice of the "Rules on the Operation of the Financial Services Commission" that includes delegating to the FSC chair authority related to supervision of and sanctions for the virtual asset market. The changes took effect immediately upon announcement. The key of the revised rules is the creation of a new item, "matters related to virtual assets," in an appendix to the FSC operating rules, enabling the FSC chair to directly handle the receipt of notifications and reports of abnormal trading occurring in the virtual asset market and investigations into unfair trading practices. Other items included in the announced revisions are: ▲ conducting hearings related to recommendations for dismissal and demands for removal of executives and employees of virtual asset service providers, ▲ matters concerning the imposition and collection of penalty surcharges, ▲ matters concerning the imposition and collection of administrative fines, and ▲ acceptance of reports on the processing results of delegated tasks to the Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service. Explaining the reason for the revision, the FSC said, "This is to delegate to the FSC chair matters that do not require policy judgment, such as simple and repetitive administrative procedures, for the efficient operation of the FSC."

US President Donald Trump has flatly ruled out the possibility of negotiations with Iran. On the 6th (Korea time), Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that “there will be no deal with Iran,” adding that “there are no talks other than unconditional surrender.” He went on to say that “after that, if a great and acceptable leader is chosen, the United States and its allies will work for Iran.” He also said he would make Iran “economically bigger, better and stronger,” stressing: “Make Iran Great Again (MIGA).”

US retail sales fell 0.2% from the previous month last month, coming in above market expectations. The US Department of Commerce said on the 6th (local time) that US retail sales in January declined 0.2% m/m. The figure was 0.1 percentage point above economists’ forecast (-0.3%). On a year-on-year basis, retail sales rose 3.2%. The monthly US retail sales report is an advance estimate that primarily tracks merchandise sales within total consumption. It is seen as a gauge of shifts in consumer spending, a key pillar of the US economy.

Last month’s US employment data came in well below market expectations. The US Department of Labor said on Feb. 6 (local time) that nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 in February from the previous month. That was far weaker than the market forecast of 58,000. Compared with the revised January figure of 126,000, it was 218,000 fewer. The February unemployment rate came in at 4.4%, 0.1% point above analysts’ estimate of 4.3%. It was also up 0.1% point from the previous month’s 4.3%. Average hourly earnings in February rose 3.8% year on year, 0.1% point above the forecast of 3.7%.

A large amount of money flowed into related bets on decentralized prediction markets over the war between the United States and Israel and Iran that began on the 28th. However, an analysis found that liquidity and scale are still insufficient for institutional investors to participate. On the 6th (Korea time), Bloomberg reported, citing an analysis of Polymarket data, that 90% of investors betting on the possibility of Khamenei being ousted were retail investors making small bets of $1,000 or less. The bet drew market attention, with more than $100 million traded in the week before reports emerged of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. Ten large wallets that traded more than $1 million were found to have entered the bet late, after the news reports, when the odds of Khamenei being ousted were above 90%. Their average profit amounted to just $11,223 per wallet. Wall Street experts assessed this as evidence that institutional participation remains difficult. Allen Rosin, Oppenheimer's head of institutional equity derivatives, said, "Prediction markets still have low liquidity by institutional standards," adding, "The trading size is too small to build a real investment position." Ian Dunning, head of AI at Hudson River Trading, said, "It’s true that prediction markets have grown rapidly over the past six months," but added, "For now, moves in the futures market on Sunday night provide far more information than weekend trading in prediction markets."

The Bank of Canada has completed a pilot with major commercial banks to issue and trade tokenised bonds. According to CoinDesk on the 6th (KST), the central bank said it had concluded “Project Samara,” a joint initiative with leading domestic financial institutions to test the issuance of bonds on distributed ledger technology (DLT) as well as the trading and settlement process. The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and TD Bank took part. In the project, Export Development Canada (EDC) issued a short-term bond worth US$73 million and sold it to a group of investors. The bond was issued in token form on a blockchain-based ledger. The trial was conducted as the Canadian government moves to refine its digital-asset regulatory framework. Canada is in the process of institutionalising digital assets, including pushing to introduce legislation for Canadian-dollar-backed stablecoins (digital assets pegged to fiat currency).

Kazakhstan’s central bank is reportedly considering investing part of its foreign exchange reserves in crypto assets (cryptocurrencies). On the 6th (Korea time), Reuters reported that Timur Suleimenov, governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, said at a briefing on the policy rate that the bank would push a plan to invest in crypto assets and related industries using part of its gold and foreign exchange reserves. Governor Suleimenov said, "We are currently drawing up a list of financial instruments that could be targeted for investment," adding that "it will include a range of financial instruments related to crypto assets and associated industries." The National Bank of Kazakhstan’s investments are expected to begin between April and May this year.

The Bank of Russia is considering introducing a “notification-based” regime that would allow banks and securities firms holding existing financial licenses to operate virtual-asset (cryptocurrency) exchanges without a separate approval process. According to The Block on the 6th (Korea time), Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, said in an interview with Interfax that she has proposed a plan that would enable banks and brokers to obtain authorization to operate crypto exchanges by leveraging their existing financial licenses. If implemented, the plan is expected to allow financial institutions to provide virtual-asset trading services by notifying the supervisory authority, without separately obtaining a new virtual-asset service provider license. The proposal is based on the fact that these banks and securities firms already have anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) systems in place. Nabiullina said, “The banking system is built on the basis of AML and CFT.” Still, Russia is expected to apply strict risk-management standards to the financial sector’s participation in the virtual-asset market. Nabiullina explained, “We are considering limiting the level of risk a bank can take in the virtual-asset market to 1% of its own capital,” adding, “We will first apply the 1% cap and monitor banks’ operations.”

An analysis suggests that crypto (cryptocurrency) exchanges are expanding into traditional finance (TradFi) derivatives venues. On the 6th (Korean time), crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant said in a report that "Binance’s perpetual futures for traditional assets have surpassed $130 billion in cumulative trading volume since launch, with the number of trades reaching 90 million," adding that "this is an achievement delivered in roughly two months after launch." Perpetual futures for traditional assets are derivatives that track the prices not only of precious metals such as gold, silver, palladium and platinum, but also major stocks including Amazon, Coinbase, Intel, Strategy and Tesla. A key feature is that, while providing price exposure similar to traditional derivatives, they can leverage the infrastructure of crypto exchanges that enables 24-hour global trading. Gold and silver stood out in particular. The report said that "over the past three days, gold and silver derivatives posted volumes of about $3.77 billion and $3.75 billion, respectively, and on the 1st—when volatility in these markets was high—$4.0 billion of gold and $7.0 billion of silver were traded, respectively." It added that "demand for safe-haven assets has risen amid concerns over a global economic slowdown, geopolitical risks, and expanded gold purchases by central banks." The report said this trend reflects demand for 24-hour settlement. "Investors seeking exposure to traditional assets such as gold or equities are using crypto-exchange infrastructure that allows 24-hour trading," it said, adding that "this shows a convergence between crypto assets and traditional finance."

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is tightening regulation of high-leverage exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The move is fueling a debate over the consistency of the SEC’s regulatory standards, given that it has approved a series of ETFs backed by cryptoassets (cryptocurrencies). On the 6th (Korea time), Bloomberg reported that the SEC recently met with leveraged-ETF issuers and asked them not to launch 5x leveraged single-stock ETF products for the time being. The SEC has, for about the past five years, limited leverage for single-stock ETFs to around 2x. Still, critics say the SEC’s approach to ETF regulation lacks consistency. That is because the SEC has recently continued to approve spot ETFs backed by cryptoassets in an effort to broaden access to them. In the U.S., spot ETFs have emerged not only for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), but also for relatively volatile altcoins such as Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and Dogecoin (DOGE). On this, Bloomberg said the SEC is trying to reduce the risk of investors being forced into liquidation when trading high-leverage ETFs, explaining that even if the underlying asset is volatile, liquidation risk is lower when leverage is limited—but with a 5x leveraged ETF, there is a risk of liquidation even if the underlying moves by just 20%. Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth Management, said, “The line between investing and gambling continues to blur,” adding that “high-leverage products are making it harder for regulators to draw the line.”

DarwinKS said on the 6th that it is pushing ahead with the development of an ‘MTM (multi-digital automated teller machine)-based payment service for foreign users’ with real-estate payments fintech firm HomesPay. DarwinKS is a company that has obtained an ICT regulatory sandbox certification from the Ministry of Science and ICT related to ‘virtual-asset ATMs and POS terminals.’ Through this partnership, DarwinKS aims to build a service that allows foreign users to exchange currency and pay rent without needing a domestic bank account. The two companies plan to enable funds exchanged via DarwinKS’s MTM to be linked to the HomesPay service. Darwin said it is preparing its system to shorten the FX conversion and settlement process and improve user convenience in anticipation of the institutionalization of payment methods using digital assets such as Tether (USDT) and won-denominated stablecoins. DarwinKS also plans to expand its stablecoin payment service to broader areas of everyday life, including healthcare and culture.

British lender Standard Chartered is said to be weighing an expansion of its digital-asset business in Asia, including by appointing a new executive to lead the relevant division. According to Blockhead on the 6th (Korea time), Standard Chartered said it has appointed Kavi Reget as head of digital assets for Asia. Reget will cover China, North Asia, South Asia and ASEAN, and will be based in Singapore. Reget will also concurrently serve as head of the Global Public Sector Group. The appointment is being seen as a sign that Standard Chartered is accelerating the expansion of its digital-asset business spanning virtual assets (cryptocurrencies), tokenized assets, stablecoins (virtual assets whose value is pegged to fiat currencies) and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Reget previously worked at The Wall Street Journal as China correspondent and Jerusalem bureau chief, and later handled sovereign debt credit advisory work at Goldman Sachs.

<Today's Key Economic Calendar> ▶︎ Fri (6th): △Korea February Consumer Price Index (08:00), △US January Retail Sales (07:30 local time, 21:30 Korea time), △US February Nonfarm Payrolls (08:30 local time, 22:30 Korea time), △US February Unemployment Rate (08:30 local time, 22:30 Korea time) <Today's Key Crypto Calendar> ▶︎ Fri (6th): △Hyperliquid (HYPE), 9.92 million tokens unlocked

South Korea’s financial authorities are set to begin discussions on “phase-two legislation” aimed at improving the institutional framework for the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market and broadening its base. The centerpiece is to overhaul the issuance framework for stablecoins—virtual assets whose value is pegged to fiat currencies—and to establish standards for dispersed ownership of virtual asset exchanges. On the 4th, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it held the “1st Virtual Asset Committee Meeting of 2026” at 10 a.m. at the Government Complex Seoul, chaired by Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-young. Attendees included relevant ministries and agencies such as the FSC, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), along with private-sector experts. In opening remarks, Vice Chairman Kwon said the government would accelerate policy implementation on a two-track basis—“institutional overhaul” and “expanding the market’s base.” To this end, it also plans to strengthen communication with the Virtual Asset Committee, the government’s virtual asset policy body. The committee shared the FSS’s interim review findings on the virtual asset erroneous-payment incident that occurred on Feb. 6 and discussed follow-up plans. Members agreed to ensure user compensation is adequately carried out through checks by an emergency response task force, and to prioritize building internal control systems by improving exchanges’ self-regulation. The meeting also discussed introducing safeguards to bolster market confidence. Measures considered included setting internal control standards for exchanges as well as IT and security standards, and imposing no-fault liability for damages. In particular, the Virtual Asset Committee held in-depth discussions on the need for a bank-centric stablecoin issuance framework (equity stake 50%+1)—a key issue in drafting the Digital Asset Basic Act—and on standards for dispersed ownership of virtual asset exchanges. Based on the discussions, the FSC plans to push improvements to self-regulation by the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) and continue ruling-party–government consultations toward enacting the law.

The ruling and opposition parties, together with the government, are restarting discussions to enact the Digital Asset Basic Act. A ruling-party–government consultative meeting related to the bill is scheduled to be held on the 5th. According to political circles on the 3rd, the ruling party and the government will hold a consultative meeting on the 5th, with the agenda centered on the Digital Asset Basic Act, which corresponds to the second phase of legislation on virtual assets (digital assets). This will be the first such ruling-party–government meeting focused on the bill in about three months, since December 1 last year. A source from Rep. Han Jeong-ae’s office told Bloomingbit that “we decided to proceed with a ruling-party–government consultative meeting on the morning of the 5th.” Some lawmakers affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea’s task force (TF) are also expected to attend the meeting. Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea’s Digital Assets TF held an internal meeting the same day to coordinate key issues in the bill. On the 4th, the Financial Services Commission is expected to convene its first Virtual Asset Committee since the launch of the new government to discuss related pending issues.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on the 1st issued an emergency directive in connection with the outbreak of a military clash between the United States and Israel, and Iran, ordering that "public safety and protection of overseas Koreans be prioritized above all else." Roh Jeong-dong, Hankyung.com reporter dong2@hankyung.com

<Key economic events next week> ▶︎ 2 (Mon): △South Korea alternative holiday for Independence Movement Day △US February Manufacturing PMI (local 09:45, Korea 23:45), △US February ISM Manufacturing PMI (local 10:00, Korea 3rd 00:00) ▶︎ 3 (Tue): △European Union February preliminary CPI (local 11:00, Korea 19:00), △Speech by John Williams, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (local 09:55, Korea 23:55), △Speech by Neel Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (local 11:45, Korea 3rd 01:45) ▶︎ 4 (Wed): △South Korea January retail sales (08:00), △China February Manufacturing PMI (local 09:30, Korea 10:30), △US February ADP private-sector employment (local 08:15, Korea 22:15), △US February Services PMI (local 09:45, Korea 23:45), △US February ISM non-manufacturing PMI (local 10:00, Korea 5th 00:00), △US crude oil inventories (local 10:30, Korea 5th 00:30), ▶︎ 5 (Thu): △US initial jobless claims (local 08:30, Korea 22:30) ▶︎ 6 (Fri): △South Korea February CPI (08:00), △US January retail sales (local 07:30, Korea 21:30), △US February nonfarm payrolls (local 08:30, Korea 22:30), △US February unemployment rate (local 08:30, Korea 22:30) <Key crypto events next week> ▶︎ 2 (Mon): △Mantra (OM) redenomination vote, △Ronin (RON) Cambrian presale begins ▶︎ 3 (Tue): △Astar (ASTR) Tokenomics 3.0 vote ▶︎ 4 (Wed): △Flare (FLR) discussion related to XRPFi, △Polygon (POL) Risobo hard fork ▶︎ 5 (Thu): △Ethena (ENA) unlock of 171.88 million tokens ▶︎ 6 (Fri): △Hyperliquid (HYPE) unlock of 9.92 million tokens

Reuters reported that Iran's state television said on the 1st (local time) that Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, has died.

South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) has issued an apology after an incident in which the private key of a digital-asset wallet was leaked, leading to the loss of a large amount of cryptocurrency. According to industry sources on the 1st (Korea time), the NTS said in a media message that "an incident occurred in which a delinquent taxpayer’s digital-asset information was leaked during the briefing process on the results of a manhunt for delinquent taxpayers on the 26th of last month," adding, "We sincerely apologize to the public." The NTS said, "While trying to provide more vivid information (about the incident), we failed to recognize that sensitive information was included and carelessly provided the original photo to the media," adding, "There is no excuse." The NTS has confirmed the leak and is tracking the stolen digital assets through its own tracing program. It also said it has requested an investigation by the National Police Agency and is making every effort to recover the leaked assets. In response to the incident, the NTS plans to strengthen internal controls and overhaul its custody and sale manuals for seized digital assets. Koo Yun-cheol, Minister of Finance and Economy and Deputy Prime Minister, also stressed that "the government will, together with relevant agencies including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, inspect the status and management practices of digital assets held and managed by the government and public institutions through seizures from delinquent taxpayers," adding that it will "swiftly draw up and implement measures to prevent a recurrence, including stronger digital-asset security management." Previously, on the 26th, the NTS secured a USB-type digital-asset wallet while seizing a delinquent taxpayer’s assets and prepared a press release. However, the wallet and mnemonic phrase (a wallet recovery phrase) were openly exposed in the release, and digital assets worth about $4.8 million were stolen.