Very Soon, Elections That Will Determine the Fate of Cryptocurrencies in South Korea Are Coming: Here Is the Latest Situation!

Crypto markets have become the center of the early presidential elections to be held in South Korea.

The expanding intergenerational digital asset investor base across the country has forced candidates to compete with crypto-friendly policies.

All three leading presidential candidates made positive promises regarding crypto. These include the legalization of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF) and regulations aimed at easing banking restrictions on fiat-to-crypto trading transactions, which are currently limited to only five platforms.

The elections on June 3 will be held approximately two years early following the dismissal of former president Yoon Suk-yeol after the controversial state of emergency he declared in late 2024. Although Yoon's sudden attempt to seize power was quickly rejected by the parliament, this move led to a political crisis and resulted in his dismissal.

Yoon had promised reforms in crypto regulations by targeting young voters during the 2022 election campaign. By the 2025 elections, digital assets had become one of the main agendas, with the older generations also making significant investments.

All three main candidates competing in this election promise to grow the local crypto economy. The opposition Democratic Party's candidate Lee Jae-myung is back on the scene with a crypto-friendly campaign after losing the election to Yoon in 2022.

The ruling People's Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo is trying to reshape the conservative base after the ousting of Yoon from the party.

The former PPP leader and the youngest party chairman in South Korean political history, Lee Jun-seok, is running as an independent candidate with the Reform Party he established at the beginning of 2024.

Lee Jae-myung, who also made pro-crypto promises in the 2022 election, was not as aggressive as Yoon at the time. Yoon's promises included steps such as lifting the ban on play-to-earn (P2E) games and allowing (ICO) to initial coin offerings, but most of them were not implemented.

Both Lee Jae-myung and Kim included Bitcoin ETFs among their campaign promises. This step is seen as part of the increasing momentum globally following the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US in 2024.

Yoon's failed coup attempt accelerated the election process and drew attention again to the unresolved issues in the crypto sector.

Park from Dongguk University stated, "In the 2022 elections, cryptocurrencies were seen as speculative and unreliable. However, by 2025, it became a topic brought to the forefront of the agenda as leading candidates promised to institutionalize crypto and turn it into financial products in response to the investment realities of young voters."

South Korea continues to be one of the largest crypto markets in the world. In the first quarter of 2024, the Korean won became the most traded fiat currency against crypto. This situation is largely driven by retail investors. Institutional investors, on the other hand, are waiting for the FSC to launch its pilot trading program for professional investors.