As preliminary approval for a fractional investment trading platform has been postponed three times, system stability and internal controls—issues sparked by the "Bithumb incident"—have emerged as key points of contention. Because a fractional investment over-the-counter exchange is, in essence, a financial infrastructure that aligns with a virtual asset exchange, some say it requires the same strict operational standards.
At an emergency inquiry by the National Policy Committee on the 11th regarding Bithumb's erroneous bitcoin payout, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Vice Chair Kwon Dae-young said, "Since virtual asset exchanges handle large-scale assets, they need internal controls and management systems at the level of financial companies," and noted the agency intends to revise the system in that direction.
According to the operating plan released by the financial authorities in September last year, screening for licenses of fractional investment trading platforms is designed on a 1,000-point scale, including paid-in capital, physical facilities, and business plans. Of these, items directly tied to infrastructure stability—such as physical facilities (150 points), business plans (300 points), and conflict-of-interest prevention systems (150 points)—account for 60% of the total score.
In the security token offerings (STOs) industry, the view is that, because the over-the-counter exchange is a secondary market where large-scale assets are transacted in real time, the extent to which system stability and internal controls have been established will be the key variable for final approval.
Earlier, the Securities and Futures Commission reviewed an application for preliminary approval for a fractional investment over-the-counter exchange on the 7th of last month and selected the Korea Exchange (KRX)-Korea Securities Computing Corporation (KDX) consortium and the NEXTRADE (NXT)-Musicow (NXT) consortium. By contrast, Lucent Block, which had participated as a regulatory sandbox operator, was eliminated. Afterward, as fairness concerns arose, no final approval was announced at the regular meetings held on the 14th and 28th of last month.
The market views this delay as unusual. Normally, once the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) stage is passed, the licensing process enters its final phase, but after the Bithumb incident, internal control standards were tightened, prompting the authorities to revert to a cautious stance by rechecking documents and procedures.
As controversy over the licensing review spread, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chair Lee Eog-weon expressed caution to related questions at the National Policy Committee on the 5th, saying the "approval process is underway."
It remains uncertain whether the final approval will be announced at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) regular meeting scheduled for the 13th. However, since internal controls and risk management capabilities have emerged as even more important evaluation factors after the Bithumb incident, there is speculation that a consortium centered on a large exchange could be relatively advantaged.
A person in the financial investment industry said, "After the Bithumb incident, standards for exchange infrastructure are likely to become stricter," adding, "With the final announcement delayed and the overall STO market effectively at a standstill, a prompt conclusion is needed."