South Korean FSC head nominee faces backlash after denouncing crypto

Lee Eok-Gained, the nominee for the South Korea committee of Korea in Leiden, this week attracted critical criticism after rejecting crypto as the shortage of any actual worth in his written testimony previous to affirmation hearings, native media reported on 1 September.

Lee mentioned that digital belongings would not have intrinsic worth in the identical means as shares or financial institution deposits, and argued that their worth fluctuations undermine their capacity to behave as cash. He additional acknowledged that the acute volatility skilled by digital belongings make them unsuitable as a retailer of worth or as an trade medium.

Lee’s place is in keeping with the place of the federal government that digital belongings are neither authorized tender nor monetary merchandise below the monetary regulatory regime.

The nominated FSC chairman warned in opposition to permitting pension and pension funds to put money into the sector, however expressed openness to regulating stablecoins, and famous that they could possibly be managed with ensures whereas that they had room for innovation.

Pushback within the trade

The blockchain sector of the nation rejected the feedback, the place many within the trade declare that the reason ignores earnings and acceptance all through the trade.

Since 2022, the acceptance of crypto in South Korea has risen from round 9.7 million buyers to greater than 16 million in early 2025, which represents greater than 30% of the inhabitants and greater than 60% grows in simply over two years.

The buying and selling exercise at native festivals has generally surpassed the inventory market volumes and the overall corporations have risen above 102 trillion KRW ($ 70 billion), and emphasizes how digital belongings rapidly develop into a daily funding alternative for South Koreans.

An analyst at Xangle, a neighborhood information agency, accused Lee to depend on outdated arguments which can be as soon as frequent in conventional monetary leaders.

He pointed to current token return and earnings flows from platforms equivalent to hyperliquid, tron ​​and ethena as proof of worth creation that’s akin to shares purchases of corporations.

Coverage provision versus the demand for retail commerce

South Korean supervisors have strengthened restrictions in current months, as a result of the curiosity within the nation’s retail commerce continues to rise.

The Monetary Supervision Service suggested home belongings managers to scale up the returns in crypto-related shares, whereas the FSC exchanges ordered to cease providing credit score providers supported by digital belongings or FIAT deposits.

Regardless of the stricter perspective, Retail enthusiasm for crypto climbing continues. Traders bought a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in Tesla shares in August, the most important elimination because the starting of final yr, whereas they centered on funds in crypto -proxies equivalent to Bitmine, who just lately grew to become the biggest Ethereum holder.

Knowledge additionally confirmed a steep fall within the South Korean purchases of huge American technical shares in comparison with earlier this yr.

The contrasting positions between regulators and buyers have open questions on how President Lee Jae-Myung’s administration can be cautious with the rising starvation of the general public for digital belongings.

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