Financial Services Commission Denies Reports of Allowing Corporate Cryptocurrency Accounts Next Year

The financial authorities have stated that reports claiming the issuance of real-name accounts for corporate cryptocurrencies will be allowed from next year are "not yet confirmed."

On the 23rd, a representative from the Financial Services Commission told Bloomingbit in a call, "The allowance of real-name accounts for corporate cryptocurrencies is still under discussion, and the reported information is not true," adding, "We do not know who the senior official from the financial authorities mentioned in the report is, but the Virtual Asset Division of the Financial Services Commission has never confirmed this."

Earlier that day, a media outlet reported, "The Financial Services Commission plans to allow real-name accounts for non-profit corporations that need to liquidate through the sale of cryptocurrencies, such as central government departments, local governments, public institutions, and universities, in the first half of next year," and "plans to allow corporate accounts in the order of cryptocurrency-related businesses, general companies, and financial companies."

Additionally, the media reported that the introduction of a cryptocurrency spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been postponed until after the amendment of the cryptocurrency law, but a representative from the Financial Services Commission also denied this, stating, "There has been no discussion within the Virtual Asset Division regarding the timing of the introduction of a cryptocurrency spot ETF," dismissing it as "completely unfounded."

Meanwhile, it is reported that the Financial Services Commission is currently reviewing and gathering opinions from related ministries, institutions, and private experts on whether to issue real-name accounts for corporations.

If the issuance of real-name accounts for corporate cryptocurrencies is allowed, it is expected that there will be a significant increase in demand for cryptocurrency-related services such as cryptocurrency exchanges and cryptocurrency custody services. As a result, stakeholders in the cryptocurrency industry are eagerly awaiting the allowance of real-name account issuance.

In the United States, where the issuance of real-name accounts for corporate cryptocurrencies is possible, active corporate cryptocurrency investments are taking place. MicroStrategy, known as the company holding the most Bitcoin in the world, and Tesla, which holds about 1.5 trillion won worth of cryptocurrencies, are representative examples. Also, at the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, about 60% of the trading volume is generated by corporate clients.

Moreover, there are considerable calls for the domestic introduction of a cryptocurrency spot ETF. This is because the scale of funds flocking to Bitcoin spot ETFs is not negligible. Kim Seo-joon, CEO of Hashed, who attended the 'Cryptocurrency Legislation' seminar hosted by Hashed on the 19th, said, "There are many predictions that Bitcoin will become the second most valuable asset after gold as early as next year," and "when comparing the gold ETF created by BlackRock with the Bitcoin ETF, there is an enormous institutional demand for the Bitcoin ETF that is incomparable to the gold ETF."