The Democratic Party of Korea plans to regulate tokenized real-world assets and stablecoins in the soon-to-be enacted “Framework Act on Digital Assets.” The proposal would require issuers to deposit assets with a trustee-managed trust institution, and classify stablecoins as a means of payment, subject to oversight by foreign exchange regulators. The bill bans earnings from idle stablecoins and calls for the development of interoperable technical standards, aiming to improve market transparency and safety. This marks an important step forward for South Korea’s digital asset regulation.

In 2026, the Korean crypto market will see significant changes, with USD Coin trading activity surging, reflecting growing demand for dollar-pegged stablecoins. Circle’s CEO will visit South Korea to discuss stablecoin use cases and partnerships with multiple banks. At the same time, South Korean regulators are strengthening stablecoin legislation, laying the groundwork for the digital asset market.

The Financial Services Commission of Korea requires all domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to reconcile accounts every 5 minutes to address internal control vulnerabilities exposed by recent payment incidents. The new regulations include establishing automated reconciliation systems, setting standards for when trading must be paused, and strengthening reviews of high-risk processes, with the goal of improving asset security.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire plans to visit South Korea in April to meet with executives from multiple banks and exchanges to discuss USDC use cases, international payments cooperation, and its KRW stablecoin plans, with the goal of expanding USDC’s use in the Korean market.

The Bank of Korea and France’s foreign exchange bank held a seminar in South Korea on digital assets and climate-related issues, discussing the impact of central bank digital currency and stablecoins on the financial system. During the meeting, countries discussed how to balance financial innovation and regulation, showing the global emphasis on collaborative research in digital finance.

Gate News message, on April 7, the Bank of Korea and the Banque de France held a seminar to discuss issues related to digital assets and climate change.

Due to delays in the legislation of the Digital Asset Basic Act, several financial institutions in South Korea have launched stablecoin payment services for foreign users, building infrastructure. Industry analysis says that such services are like a “regulatory sandbox,” helping companies validate their business models.

The Korea Financial Services Commission requires all cryptocurrency exchanges to set up a system to verify assets every 5 minutes, and to complete it by the end of May. It found that some exchanges’ verification frequency is insufficient and that there are defects in their trading circuit breaker mechanisms; all exchanges are required to publish their asset balances and submit to audits. The regulatory measures stem from an operational mistake at an exchange in February.

Visa executives, during their visit to South Korea, said that the country is the best place to conduct stablecoin experiments, with 17 million cryptocurrency investors, and strong performance in the field of artificial intelligence. Visa is optimistic about South Korea’s future potential in combining stablecoin and AI businesses.

The People Power Party of South Korea has introduced a new bill, calling for the repeal of the cryptocurrency trading tax that is set to take effect in 2027, aiming to win support from younger voters and affect the value of votes. Analysts believe it may simply be a political strategy, and the actual impact is unclear; in the future, the bill could be postponed or amended again.