South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is seeking to introduce a 5% ceiling for corporate investments in cryptocurrencies. Local media reports indicate this is a key component of new institutional trading guidelines.
The Seoul Economic Daily reported that the FSC has prepared the draft guidelines for listed corporations and professional investors, with completion targeted for early this year. Actual trading by companies could begin within the same year.
Under the proposal, the annual investment limit is tied to a company’s equity capital and restricted to assets within the crypto market’s top 20. Regulators are still deliberating whether to include US-based stablecoins such as USDT on the approved list.
Analysts foresee a concentrated effect from the new rules. Min Jung from Presto Research told The Block that liquidity should improve, but capital inflows will likely be dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum, providing limited support for other altcoins.
The guidelines are part of a longer-term regulatory shift. The FSC started phasing out the institutional ban in 2025 by granting sales permissions to specific organizations, with a timeline to permit trading by listed companies later in the year.
