Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate from South Korea’s main right-wing party, officially announced Monday that he would support the local adoption of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds as part of his election pledges.
According to South Korea’s National Election Commission, Kim of the People Power Party vowed to allow spot crypto ETFs in the country’s financial system, in an aim to foster wealth accumulation in the middle class.
Kim also pledged to institutionalize the local crypto market in a fair and transparent environment by establishing additional legal frameworks around the crypto industry.
South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, currently does not permit the local issuance or trading of spot crypto ETFs, having concluded last year that there is no legal basis for bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to serve as underlying assets for such products.
With Kim’s promise to support spot crypto ETFs, both presidential candidates from the country’s two major political parties have now formed a bipartisan consensus.
Last week, Lee Jae-myung, runner for the left-wing Democratic Party of Korea, vowed to introduce spot crypto ETFs in the country as part of his promise to provide more opportunities for South Korea’s younger generation.
The People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea together hold 277 of the 300 seats in South Korea’s unicameral legislative body.
According to a recent poll from Flower Research, Democratic Party’s Lee had a 54% approval rating while right-wing candidate Kim had 20.6%, local news outlet Jose Ilbo reported. Reform Party’s Lee Jun-seok received 6.9% support in the same poll.
In a separate poll from Realmeter, the Democratic Party candidate had a 52% rating, Kim saw 31%, and Reform Party’s Lee had 6.3%, according to a report from Hankyoreh news outlet.
South Korea’s untimely presidential election comes as former right-wing President Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached last month due to his brief martial rule imposition last December. The election is scheduled for June 3, 2025.
Meanwhile, spot crypto ETFs in the U.S. have proven successful beyond initial expectations. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs and ether ETFs have cumulatively seen over $43 billion in net inflows, according to data from SoSoValue. U.S. issuers have also filed to launch spot ETFs based on other cryptocurrencies, such as XRP and Solana, which are currently under review.
Following the success in the U.S., South Korea’s FSC indicated it would reexamine allowing spot crypto ETFs to trade in the local market.
Last week, FSC Chairman Kim Byung-hwan stated that the agency agrees with the election pledges regarding spot crypto ETFs, and that it would discuss implementation with the upcoming administration.
© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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