In a significant development, Lee Jae-myung, known for his crypto-friendly stance, has been elected as the new president of South Korea, defeating the incumbent leader of the Conservative Party, Kim Moon-soo, in the presidential election. Throughout his campaign, Lee made numerous commitments to the crypto sector in South Korea, aiming to appeal to the nation's substantial base of 15 million crypto investors.
These commitments included plans to legalize spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds and enable institutional investors, such as the National Pension Fund, to invest in specific cryptocurrencies and related products, as reported by local media outlet The Korea Herald in May. Additionally, Lee emphasized the need for the country to support a stablecoin market denominated in the local currency, the won, in order to prevent the outflow of national wealth, as stated during a policy discussion with YouTube content creators, according to The Korea Herald. Lee, representing the Democratic Party of Korea, secured a decisive victory over his opponent, Kim, from the People Power Party, with a margin of nearly three million votes in the snap election, which saw a total of over 17 million votes cast.
Lee garnered 49.4% of the total votes, as per data released by South Korea's National Election Commission. Over the past two years, South Korea has implemented new regulatory measures for crypto companies.
In 2023, the National Assembly passed legislation governing digital assets, which defined digital assets and imposed penalties for unfair transactions, while also granting the Financial Services Commission the authority to oversee service providers. Around the same time, the country published guidelines for regulating security tokens. Recently, South Korea has begun allowing non-profit organizations and exchanges to sell cryptocurrencies under new rules set by the Financial Services Commission.
The push for increased crypto adoption is not unique to South Korea, as other countries and leaders in Asia, such as those in Pakistan and Hong Kong, are also exploring crypto measures, driven by the sector's significant growth to a $3.4 trillion market cap and its increasing mainstream acceptance.