South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) is drafting guidelines on “Corporate Virtual Currency Transactions” that will exclude stablecoins from the permitted investment scope. The guidelines aim to allow listed corporations and professionally registered investment firms to trade digital assets for investment or financial purposes. To prevent disorderly investment in the early stages of the market, the authorities have decided to exclude dollar-pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC from the permitted scope.
One of the reasons for excluding stablecoins is that the current Foreign Exchange Transactions Act of South Korea does not recognize stablecoins as a means of foreign payment. Including stablecoins in the permitted investment scope would contradict the current legal system, effectively allowing companies to use stablecoins for commercial purposes such as trade. Currently, the National Assembly of South Korea is reviewing an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, which would recognize stablecoins as a means of payment. The bill was proposed in October last year.
It is reported that some listed companies with a high proportion of trade have requested that stablecoins be included in the permitted scope in order to use them for foreign exchange hedging. It is worth noting that even if stablecoins are excluded from the guidelines, companies can still trade stablecoins through personal wallets or overseas exchanges. Industry insiders revealed that the relevant working group has completed its work, but the release date of the guidelines is linked to the legislative process of the Digital Asset Basic Act.