South Korea is moving to bring cryptocurrencies and other digital assets squarely into the government’s asset-management playbook. At a July 15 policy briefing held at the President’s Blue House, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced plans for a National Asset Basic Act that would replace the State Property Act, a statute first enacted in 1950 and largely unchanged for more than 70 years. Officials say the old law was written for an era when state assets were mainly real estate; the new framework would formally recognize modern asset classes such as intellectual property and virtual assets (including crypto), and establish specialized standards for managing and developing each type. Rather than treating public holdings mainly as property to be preserved, sold, or administratively managed, the ministry says the proposed law will emphasize creating value through modern asset-management practices. The change reflects a broader push to update how the state handles increasingly digital and tokenized resources. This move comes alongside other recent digital-asset policy steps. After a State Council meeting earlier in the week, the ministry confirmed that blockchain development will remain part of South Korea’s economic-growth strategy for the second half of 2026 — even as artificial intelligence attracts a larger share of government investment. Work will continue on the Digital Asset Basic Act, legislation intended to set industry rules such as business conduct standards and a legal framework for Korean-won‑pegged stablecoins. Officials also signaled plans to lay legal groundwork for cross-border stablecoin transactions and to support amendments that could allow spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. Infrastructure pilots are expanding too. The ministry has said a pilot linking tokenized government bonds with an institutional central bank digital currency (CBDC) project will kick off in 2027, and the Bank of Korea will study how a CBDC could interact with other blockchain networks. At the provincial level, Gyeonggi Province will launch an eight-month blockchain stablecoin pilot beginning in August. According to blockchain outlet NexBlock, security firm ZKrypto will lead the trial, which runs through February 2027 and will test stablecoin issuance, circulation, settlement, fraud prevention, privacy protections, and public-benefit payments. The pilot will use zero-knowledge proofs to guard against double-spending and proof-of-reserves technology to continuously verify the assets backing the stablecoin. Taken together, these moves signal a broad, multi-layered effort by Seoul to modernize public-asset management, integrate digital assets into legal and financial infrastructure, and position blockchain as part of the country’s forward economic agenda.
South Korea to Recognize Crypto as State Assets Under New National Asset Basic Act
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Summary
South Korea plans to recognize crypto under a new National Asset Basic Act, replacing the outdated State Property Act. The law will include crypto asset classification and digital asset regulation, covering intellectual property and virtual assets. It will set management standards and focus on value creation through modern asset practices.
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