According to a report by Business Korea, the South Korean Presidential Office’s 4th Industrial Revolution Commission has recommended that the Korean government should allow financial institutions to have the right to launch cryptocurrency-based investment products, including Bitcoin derivatives, as a pathway for the eventual institutionalization of cryptocurrencies.
The commission also recommended that “the financial sector develop and introduce a Korean custody solution to avoid relying solely on foreign custodians in the process of handling crypto assets,” and that Bitcoin should be listed directly on the Korea Exchange (KRX).
“Participants in the traditional capital market such as securities firms and banks should develop and introduce domestic custody solutions to handle crypto assets so that the Korean crypto-asset custody market will not depend on foreign countries,” the commission explained.
“The Korean government has to gradually allow institutional investors to deal in crypto assets and promote over the counter (OTC) desks dedicated to institutional investors’ trade.”
This is welcome news for the advancement and institutionalization of digital assets in South Korea, which has arguably led the way among asian nations when it came to the adoption of digital currencies and the ability to exchange and trade such financial instruments by the public and institutions.