If the Democratic Party of Korea policy committee and the financial authorities include limits on major shareholders' equity in virtual asset exchanges in the Digital Asset Basic Act (second-phase virtual asset law), exchange equity valued in the trillions of won is expected to hit the market. The virtual asset industry says only financial holding companies can absorb supply of this size, leading to analysis that the future of the virtual asset industry will hinge on financial holding companies.
According to the financial sector on the 4th, the Financial Services Commission will convene a virtual asset committee that day to hold final discussions on the government's proposal for the Digital Asset Basic Act (second-phase virtual asset law). The ruling party will then hold a closed-door party-government consultation at the National Assembly on the morning of the 5th to finalize the government and ruling party proposal for the Digital Asset Basic Act.
At this virtual asset committee, the Financial Services Commission is reportedly set to discuss both the government's second-phase virtual asset bill and the Bithumb erroneous bitcoin payment incident. An industry official said, "Using the Bithumb situation as justification, they appear likely to push harder for limits on major shareholders' equity. Whether the cap will be 15% or 20% is unclear, but the creation of a cap itself seems inevitable."
If the cap on major shareholders' equity is set at 15%, the equity value in the five leading exchanges that would come to market would each amount to tens to hundreds of billions of won. According to the unlisted stock trading platform "Seoul Exchange Unlisted," Dunamu, which operates Upbit, has about 3,487,000 shares outstanding, with a per-share price around 228,000 won. Of these, Chair Song Chi-hyung holds 25%, and under a 15% cap on major shareholders' equity, the 10% to be relinquished would be worth about 987 billion won.
Bithumb has 2,359,000 shares outstanding, with a per-share price around 227,000 won. Bithumb Holdings holds 73%. If a 15% cap on major shareholders' equity applies, it would have to sell the remaining 58%, worth about 310 billion won. Other exchange equity, including Coinone (Chief Executive Cha Myung-hoon 53%), Korbit (Mirae Asset Consulting 92%), and GOPAX (Binance Holdings Ltd. 67%), could also come to market.
Major financial holding companies, including the four big banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori), are currently forming alliances to roll out virtual asset businesses such as stablecoins. In this environment, if exchange equity with coin-related infrastructure comes to market, they are expected to take an interest. A senior official at a financial holding company said, "We are interested in equity in the No. 1 and No. 2 exchanges."
The virtual asset industry is concerned that if exchanges are effectively forced to hand over equity, they may not receive fair value. An industry official said, "If exchanges fail to meet the equity cap demanded by the authorities, operations will likely become difficult, and if financial holding companies use that to drive down prices, it's unclear whether exchanges could withstand it."