Hundreds of millions in funds about to enter? South Korea plans to lift restrictions on corporate investments in crypto assets, setting a 5% cap to test the waters.

Seoul Economic Daily reports that South Korean financial authorities are drafting new guidelines to allow listed companies and professional investors to allocate a portion of their funds into crypto assets, setting a 5% cap and trading regulations. This marks a shift from the company’s investment ban since 2017 and is seen as an important step by regulators to rebalance risk and innovation.

Farewell to the nine-year ban: South Korean authorities will open corporate investment in cryptocurrencies

The report states that the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has completed a draft guideline for corporate cryptocurrency trading, with the final version expected to be announced as early as January to February this year. According to the plan, listed companies and professional investors could officially allocate crypto assets as early as this year, ending the comprehensive ban that has been in place since 2017 due to concerns over money laundering and speculation.

This policy continues FSC’s phased opening strategy in recent years. By May 2025, South Korea will allow non-profit organizations and cryptocurrency exchanges to sell their holdings of crypto assets; further easing restrictions on corporate investments is seen as a significant milestone in institutional recognition of corporate participation in the crypto market.

Starting from risk control: 5% investment cap and target restrictions

According to the draft guidelines, companies and professional investors can allocate at most 5% of their own capital to crypto assets annually, with investments limited to the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Additionally, regulators are still discussing whether to include stablecoins like USDT among investable assets. To reduce market volatility and systemic risks, the guidelines will also incorporate mechanisms such as phased trading and price limits to prevent large, one-time capital inflows from impacting the market.

In November last year, FSC also considered opening the issuance of Korean won stablecoins by tech companies and fintech startups outside the banking sector. Meanwhile, the five major local banks have quietly begun cross-border remittance testing, infrastructure, and custody services, highlighting their strong interest.

(South Korea regulators plan to open corporate issuance of Korean won stablecoins, with all five banks preparing)

Corporate scale opens up imagination: billions of dollars may flow in?

Looking at South Korean companies, some large enterprises have considerable potential investment capacity. For example, Naver, a major internet company, has a proprietary capital of about 27 trillion Korean won (approximately $184 billion). A 5% allocation could buy thousands of BTC.

However, despite South Korea’s enthusiasm for crypto trading, Presto Research Deputy Researcher Min Jung points out that most local companies seem inclined not to allocate too high a proportion of their funds into highly volatile assets:

Meanwhile, we believe that capital allocation will remain highly concentrated in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), with limited spillover effects on other small and medium tokens.

(U.S. banks allow clients to allocate 4% of funds into cryptocurrencies, citing four Bitcoin spot ETFs)

Stablecoins and ETF regulation are the key variables

Compared to the investment ratio itself, the market is more focused on the upcoming Digital Asset Basic Act. As South Korea’s second comprehensive crypto regulation framework, the bill is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of this year, covering Korean won stablecoins, spot crypto ETFs, and specific regulations for existing pilot policies.

Jung believes that the promotion of stablecoins and ETFs will have a much greater impact on South Korea’s crypto ecosystem than the symbolic opening of corporate investments.

It appears that South Korea is trying to gradually move crypto assets from a high-risk speculative label into a systemically accepted financial framework. The subsequent implementation of regulations remains closely watched by the market.

This article Billion-dollar capital about to enter? South Korea plans to lift restrictions on corporate crypto investments, setting a 5% cap to test the waters was first published on Chain News ABMedia.