South Korea’s financial regulator, Financial Services Commission (FSC), is making preparations to publish financial guidelines allowing listed companies to invest in crypto assets, according to fresh reports from Herald Economy.
Initially, the regulator targeted individual investors in the cryptocurrency market to protect mainstream consumers from what they term “highly risky and not suitable” for the general public. The new development above shows that the agency has expanded its oversight commitment by now aiming to protect institutional investors from risky cryptocurrencies. The moves show that while crypto plays a supporting role in the wider digital asset ecosystem, the agency seeks to minimize the risk to both ordinary consumers and institutions from speculative trading in cryptocurrencies.
FSC Introduces Stringent Oversight On Companies
As disclosed today by the Herald Economy, a China-based economic newspaper, South Korea’s agency plans to release a trading guideline after the enactment of the Digital Asset Basic Law, allowing listed companies to participate in digital asset transactions for investment or other financial activities. The “Corporate Cryptocurrency Transaction Guideline”, currently being developed by South Korea’s FSC, plans to exclude stablecoins from the list of authorized corporate digital asset investments.
These guidelines aim to create standards for listed firms and registered investment companies to participate in crypto trading for investment and other financial purposes. As revealed in the Herald Economy’s report, in order to prevent risky investments in the early stages of the market, the South Korean authorities have made a decision to exclude dollar-based stablecoins like USDT and USDC from the authorized corporate investment range.
The key reason behind the exclusion is the South Korean legal system, which does not recognize stablecoins as an external payment method under the Foreign Exchange Transaction ACT. Based on this ACT, payment and receipt of external payment instruments are through foreign exchange banks. However, stablecoins are currently not recognized as an external payment method in the jurisdiction.
A partial amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act was proposed in October 2025, aiming to recognize stablecoin as a legal means of payment approved by the National Assembly. However, the amendment is currently under cross-examination, and further processes may take place in the future.
The new financial guidelines have the criteria guiding how registered professional investment companies and listed firms can trade cryptocurrencies for investment and other financial activities. As part of efforts to prevent users from engaging in unwanted (unsuitable) investments, the South Korean financial regulator has decided not to include dollar stablecoins in such corporate crypto asset investment purposes.
Users Can Bypass Restrictions
Despite the exclusion move, the corporate guidelines above cannot make corporate stablecoin trading in South Korea impossible. Today, many companies utilize private wallets (like MetaMask and others) and overseas exchanges (such as OTC platforms) to execute confidential crypto transactions.
