South Korea’s Monetary Companies Fee (FSC) chief nominee Lee Eok-won is dealing with criticism from the crypto neighborhood following his assertion that cryptocurrencies are nugatory.
In written responses submitted forward of his affirmation listening to, Lee acknowledged that cryptocurrencies lack intrinsic worth, not like conventional monetary merchandise comparable to deposits and equities.
Lee argued that cryptocurrency volatility prevents them from fulfilling important features of a forex, together with serving as a retailer of worth or a medium of trade.
금융위 후보자가 원화맥시 이름값 하시네..
"가상자산은 내재적 가치가 없어 예금이나 증권 같은 전통적 금융상품과는 다르다"
"가격 변동성이 큰 만큼 가치 저장이나 교환 수단 등 화폐 본연의 기능을 수행하기 어렵다"
"노후 안정적 소득 보장을 목표로 하는 퇴직·개인연금 투자에는 적절치 않다" pic.twitter.com/w4wSYMVDy5— Cyp3er (@cyp3er) August 31, 2025
South Korea FSC Nominee Sparks Outrage With “Anti-Crypto” Stance
This place aligns with the South Korean authorities’s stance that digital property lack intrinsic worth and can’t be categorized as a forex or a monetary product.
Lee additionally expressed reservations about pension and retirement funds investing in crypto property, citing issues about market volatility and hypothesis.
Concerning the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, Lee acknowledged the various expectations and issues about its impression, stating that Korean authorities will take into account world regulatory traits earlier than figuring out implementation strategies and schedules in session with the Nationwide Meeting.
Nonetheless, Lee indicated help for stablecoin regulation, promising “adequate supplementary measures whereas creating alternatives for innovation.”
Below President Lee Jae-myung’s endorsement, South Korea is growing rules for local-currency-pegged stablecoins.
The digital asset business, nevertheless, has criticized Lee’s stance as outdated.
Related “no intrinsic worth” arguments have been widespread amongst figures like Financial institution of England Governor Andrew Bailey and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon from 2017 to 2021, however are actually thought-about inappropriate given the elevated adoption of cryptocurrencies.
An govt at Xangle, a blockchain information service supplier, particularly criticized Lee Eok-won’s assertion as one born out of “ignorance and a lack of knowledge”.
The manager famous that crypto critics typically maintain conventional shares, comparable to Apple, whereas questioning the intrinsic worth of crypto.
He in contrast the normal cost infrastructure of PayPal to the blockchain platform Hyperliquid, mentioning that Hyperliquid performed $1.5 billion in token buybacks this yr from income generated, much like inventory buybacks by PayPal and Apple.
“Crypto has no intrinsic worth.”
That’s what Korea’s nominee for Monetary Companies Fee, Lee Eok-won, stated in parliament yesterday—exhibiting the federal government’s ignorance and lack of knowledge.@HyperliquidX purchased again $1.5B value of tokens this yr from its revenues.… pic.twitter.com/RuaeiJ9XjK— KP I Xangle (@KPJang2) August 31, 2025
He added that in simply the previous month, main initiatives like Tron generated $430 million, Ethena $68 million, and Pump.enjoyable $42 million, and Ethereum $15 million, that are a testomony to the worth they create.
South Korean Authorities Tightens Grip on Crypto Adoption
Nonetheless, it seems that South Korea as a complete stays cautious about crypto and digital property.
In July, the Monetary Supervisory Service (FSS) issued steerage directing home corporations to restrict their publicity to crypto shares, together with these of Coinbase and Technique, in ETF portfolios.
The directive reinforces the South Korean 2017 administrative steerage on digital currencies, which restricts monetary establishments from holding, buying, or investing in digital property.
Equally, in August, the South Korean FSC issued contemporary administrative steerage to exchanges, instructing them to halt operations that enable customers to borrow towards cryptocurrencies or fiat deposits.
Regardless of regulatory warning, South Korean retail buyers are exhibiting rising curiosity in crypto.
Korean buyers offered a internet $657 million of Tesla inventory throughout August, the biggest outflow since early 2023, whereas pivoting towards crypto investments amid disillusionment with the electrical car maker.
In response to Bloomberg, South Korean buyers now favor risky crypto proxies, comparable to Bitmine Immersion Applied sciences, which attracted $253 million in internet inflows in August.
Information from the Korean Middle for Worldwide Finance present that retail buyers lowered their purchases of U.S. large tech firms from a month-to-month common of $1.68 billion (January-April) to $260 million in July.
It’s nonetheless unclear whether or not President Lee Jae-myung’s administration will grant the desires of those that are keen to simply accept the dangers related to crypto property by opening doorways by way of crypto reforms that would facilitate South Korea’s participation within the digital asset sector.
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