South Korea to reconsider approving Bitcoin ETFs

Today, the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced that it might review the approval of Bitcoin and other digital assets spot ETFs. 

In addition, the FSC will review the allowance of corporate virtual assets accounts. 

In order to review Bitcoin spot ETFs, the FSC said that it will form a Virtual Asset Committee. The committee will focus on providing policy consultation regarding the cryptocurrencies market and blockchain businesses. 

The news was announced during the FSC’s national audit report. The Vice Chairman of the FSC will be the leader of the committee. Furthermore, the committee will have 9 members from other governmental entities in areas like economy, finance, justice, science and ICT. Experts from the private sector will join as well. 

Earlier this year, the United States approved spot Bitcoin ETFs and spot ETH ETFs. South Korea took an opposite stance and banned people from trading digital assets ETFs and stopped companies from creating digital asset accounts. This is due to South Korea’s concerns over money laundering and efforts to protect investors. 

The Kimchi premium might reduce

Crypto Quant CEO, Ki Young Ju, believes this news is bullish because it means market makers will soon enter South Korea and start buying and selling Bitcoin. This will help in lowering the Bitcoin price and reduce the Kimchi premium.

The Korean SEC (금융위원회) has formed a virtual asset committee to discuss the approval of #Bitcoin spot ETFs and the allowance of corporate accounts for crypto exchanges.

This is bullish and will mitigate the Kimchi premium as arb funds and MMs enter the Korean market. pic.twitter.com/Mjq2xX5AVg

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) October 10, 2024

The Kimchi premium or the Korean premium index is an indicator of the Bitcoin price gap between South Korean exchanges and global exchanges. According to CryptoQuant, the Korean premium index is at 1.51 which is considered low. The index reached a high level of more than 10% in March of this year. This means Bitcoin was priced higher by more than 10% compared to the global market. 

Currently, Bitcoin is trading at a price of $60,571.59 and is down by 2.1% in the last 24 hours. The 24-hours trading volume is standing at ​​$28.7 billion and the current market cap is at $1.19 trillion.