South Korea Opens To Corporate Crypto Investment, But Sets 5% Cap

South Korea is reportedly planning to allow corporations to invest in crypto, a move that would see the overturn of a nine-year-old ban.

Since 2017, corporate and institutional players in South Korea have been under an effective prohibition from trading and investing in digital assets like Bitcoin, with the government citing speculation and money-laundering risks. The country’s stance began to shift in February 2025, when the FSC announced a plan to gradually allow institutional participation in the space. The latest guidelines are a follow-up to this announcement.

South Korea easing up on corporate crypto investments hasn’t come without restrictions, however. Authorities have reportedly set an investment cap of 5% of equity capital, which companies can only deploy into coins inside the top 20 by market cap list. These assets will be determined based on the semi-annual market cap data sourced from the top five domestic digital asset exchanges.

While South Korea is planning on a 5% investment cap, other countries like the US or Japan have no such limits on corporate investing. One financial industry insider has raised concerns about the restriction, saying that “investment limit restrictions not found overseas could weaken capital inflow factors and prevent the emergence of virtual currency investment specialist companies.”

The BoK, South Korea’s central bank, has been pushing for banks to own at least a 51% stake in any stablecoin issuer seeking approval in the country. While the FSC agrees that financial institutions should be involved in the issuance of won stablecoins, the regulator has raised concerns that a bank majority requirement could limit market participation and innovation.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $90,600, down 2.5% over the past week.