After the collapse of the party-government consultative meeting in March, the legislative process for the Digital Asset Basic Act (second-phase virtual asset law), which had effectively been halted, will resume after four months. The financial authorities said the goal is to complete legislation within the year, but industry voices say, "We will have to wait and see."
According to the financial sector on the 20th, the financial authorities held a party-government consultative meeting with the Democratic Party of Korea at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the same day to exchange various opinions on the direction of the government bill for the Digital Asset Basic Act. From the authorities, Lee Eog-weon, chair of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, are attending. From the Democratic Party of Korea, lawmakers on the National Policy Committee are present.
It has been four months since a party-government consultative meeting was held to advance the legislative process for the Digital Asset Basic Act. The ruling party and the authorities had planned to finalize the government bill through a party-government consultative meeting in March. However, the meeting was postponed indefinitely on the grounds of responding to the U.S.-Iran war, and all related procedures had been suspended until recently. In the meantime, the Digital Asset Task Force (TF), which the ruling party launched in September last year for legislation, was disbanded without results.
The core issues of the bill are twofold: ▲ mandatory bank-centered won stablecoin consortiums ▲ limits on the equity holdings of major shareholders of exchanges. In particular, the industry strongly opposed a plan to cap major shareholders' equity in exchanges at 10% to 15%. The National Assembly Research Service stated twice that the equity cap may be unconstitutional, and differences of opinion were reported within the ruling bloc.
A compromise is reportedly being prepared on the equity cap plan. An aide to a ruling party lawmaker on the National Policy Committee said, "I understand that a certain degree of mediation is emerging on the existing points of contention. For legislation within the year, the government bill will likely need to come out around early August at the latest." The financial authorities recently said in a presidential work report that they would complete legislation within the year.
However, a person in the virtual asset industry said, "Talk of a basic act first emerged in June last year, and more than a year has ultimately passed. In the meantime, there were several moments when the mood was 'this time it will pass,' but in reality all of them fell through," adding, "The mood is that we have to wait and see until it is placed on the plenary session agenda."