It’s time for South Korea to embrace Bitcoin, says KRX chairman

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It’s time to explore ways to embrace Bitcoin and digital assets, Korea Exchange (KRX) chairman Son Byung-doo said, according to a report from local media outlet Chosun. Byung-doo drew parallels between Bitcoin and traditional capital markets, calling for measures to protect investors and stabilize transactions.

“We need to explore ways to embrace virtual assets as ‘know-how’ in the capital market,” Byung-doo reportedly said.

The number of domestic users of South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange has grown despite local financial authorities maintaining the position that Bitcoin is “outside the realm of finance.” According to the report, there are more than 5 million users in the national bitcoin exchanges. The daily volume of cryptocurrency trading has also increased and is on the verge of reaching the trade value of the South Korean exchange, KRX.

“With virtual assets having become ‘major’ investment assets, it is time to prepare an institutional framework,” Byung-doo added. “The time has come for the stock exchanges to compete directly with overseas stock exchanges. “

The president of KRX has noticed the increased investor appetite for bitcoin exposure in his country and is looking for ways to learn more about and ’embrace’ the asset class. An unfulfilled thirst can cause investors to look elsewhere.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has led issuers to move north by denying many requests for bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) spot. Canada is home to many offerings of “physical” bitcoin exposure in the stock markets and today listed another product – by the largest asset manager to offer a bitcoin ETF, Fidelity.

Fidelity Investments took to regulators and Canadian markets to list its bitcoin cash ETF after seeing its similar filing with the SEC office since March. The asset manager received regulatory approval last month to launch Canada’s first industry regulator (IIROC) to offer bitcoin trading and custody services to institutional investors. The entity, Fidelity Clearing, now provides services to the asset manager’s ETF offering.

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