South Korea Moves Ahead With Stablecoin Rules as Crypto Tax Repeal Debated

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) is reportedly preparing to work with the ruling Democratic Party on a consolidated “Digital Asset Basic Act,” aiming to unify the country’s fragmented crypto and stablecoin rulemaking after months of legislative delays. The plan comes as multiple bills remain stuck in Parliament and key policy disagreements continue to stall progress on a second-stage regulatory framework.

Separately, lawmakers are also moving toward reviewing an opposition-backed proposal to repeal South Korea’s planned crypto income tax before it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027. That effort, along with earlier petitions, adds to the uncertainty around how and whether the tax regime will ultimately be implemented.

Key takeaways

• The FSC intends to draft a consolidated Digital Asset Basic Act with the ruling Democratic Party, potentially replacing or coordinating today’s patchwork of crypto and stablecoin bills.
• At least 10 separate digital asset and stablecoin bills are currently pending, but disputes have prevented resolution of crucial details for the next phase of regulation.
• Major unresolved issues include whether won-denominated stablecoin issuers must be majority-owned by banks and whether ownership limits should apply to large crypto exchanges.
• An opposition proposal to eliminate the crypto income tax before its Jan. 1, 2027 deadline is expected to be considered by committee structures, though review dates are not yet set.

FSC signals a consolidated legal framework for crypto and stablecoins

According to an Edaily report published Wednesday, the FSC informed the National Assembly ahead of a policy briefing that it intends to pursue a consolidated bill jointly with the ruling Democratic Party. The move is designed to establish a government-backed core framework for negotiations across the digital asset sector, particularly stablecoin issuance and circulation.

If advanced, the consolidated proposal would reportedly cover a broad set of regulatory topics, including rules for digital asset businesses, requirements for exchange entry, disclosure obligations, internal controls, and standards tied to system resilience. By centralizing these elements, the FSC appears to be targeting a common complaint among market participants: overlapping and inconsistent requirements emerging from separate bills.

Right now, South Korea has multiple legislative tracks for crypto and stablecoins. The same Edaily report says 10 separate digital asset and stablecoin bills are already pending, and that disagreements have prevented the country from settling key components of its second-stage crypto legislation.

What remains disputed: stablecoin issuer structure and exchange ownership limits

Despite the FSC’s reported plan to draft a consolidated act, the timing and method for introducing the bill have not been finalized, and crucial policy fights remain unresolved.

As the Edaily report notes, one major point of contention involves won-denominated stablecoin issuers. Regulators and lawmakers appear to be split on whether those issuers should be majority owned by banks, a structure that would effectively tie stablecoin minting power to traditional banking oversight. Another dispute centers on whether ownership limits should apply to major crypto exchanges, an issue that could significantly shape how capital and corporate control are distributed across the ecosystem.

For investors and operators, these unresolved questions matter because they influence both compliance planning and competitive dynamics. Issuer ownership rules determine who can practically obtain approval and how quickly market actors can scale. Exchange ownership limits, meanwhile, can affect the flow of liquidity and the incentives around custody, trading venues, and market-making—areas that are often central to stablecoin usage patterns.

At present, the FSC has not set a clear timetable for when the consolidated bill will be formally introduced, leaving the market to watch for further legislative signals from the FSC and the ruling party.

Opposition targets crypto tax—review expected, but not scheduled

On the tax front, separate action is underway in the National Assembly. The Finance and Economic Planning Committee was scheduled to table an opposition bill on Wednesday that seeks to abolish South Korea’s crypto income tax before it begins on Jan. 1, 2027.

The income tax amendment was introduced on March 19 by People Power Party lawmaker Song Eon-seok, according to earlier coverage by Cointelegraph in connection with the proposal to scrap the crypto tax. The bill aims to remove the provision that taxes income from transferring or lending digital assets. After being tabled, it is expected to move to the committee’s tax subcommittee for detailed consideration, Edaily reported in a separate article: Edaily (May) coverage.

In parallel, a separate repeal petition backed by more than 50,000 people is also expected to be routed to a petitions subcommittee. However, according to the Edaily reporting cited in the original coverage, the relevant subcommittees have not yet been fully constituted, and no review dates have been announced.

Why the crypto tax debate is still live despite prior confirmation

From Jan. 1, 2027, the planned tax framework would apply to annual crypto income from transferring or lending above 2.5 million won (about $1,700), at a rate of 20% plus a 2% local income tax. Supporters of the regime—namely the government and the ruling Democratic Party—argue for implementing the tax as scheduled.

Opposition lawmakers, however, contend that taxing crypto income while many traditional stock investors remain exempt is inequitable. The broader dispute is therefore less about whether crypto should be taxed at all, and more about whether the tax treatment aligns with how other asset classes are treated under South Korea’s current tax code.

Earlier, South Korea’s Finance Ministry signaled that the crypto tax would proceed after repeated delays, which means the repeal bill could become one of the key tests of how quickly political disagreement translates into legislative change. Earlier coverage by Cointelegraph said the tax would go ahead following those delays.

For market participants, the practical question is whether committee-level review and possible revisions could still alter—or unwind—the January 2027 implementation timeline. With no review dates set for either the subcommittee handling the income tax repeal bill or the petitions process, the near-term path to a definitive outcome remains unclear.

As South Korea works on a consolidated stablecoin-and-crypto regulatory baseline while simultaneously debating the crypto tax’s future, the next signals to watch are the draft Digital Asset Basic Act’s scope and timing, and whether opposition efforts on tax repeal progress into committee decisions that could credibly challenge the existing plan for 2027.