Spoiler Alert: South Korea’s Politicians Are Flirting With Bitcoin ETFs (Again!)

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If you’ve ever wondered what the intersection of politics and cryptocurrency looks like, picture a group of South Korean presidential hopefuls, all frantically waving the “We love Bitcoin!” flag, elbowing for the camera, and promising you an ETF in every pot. Yes, dear reader—the land of kimchi might soon bestow legality on those shiny spot Bitcoin ETFs, much like their neighbors in Hong Kong (who, for the record, tried this too and probably expected a ticker-tape parade, but got the crypto equivalent of polite golf claps instead). 🥁

Yet, because life is never as simple as campaign slogans and hashtags, some experts are peering over their reading glasses and muttering, “Let’s not order the confetti just yet.”

Ki Young Ju, who knows about on-chain data the way your grandmother knows about coupons, took to X (that’s Twitter for people living in 2021) to announce: “All three major South Korean presidential candidates support #Bitcoin ETFs and institutional investment.” That’s a rare moment of unity—imagine if every political debate ended with wild agreement and a group hug. Currently, though, anything Bitcoin ETF-ish is strictly off the menu for institutions in South Korea, so the whole pie is firmly in the hands of retail traders. (Think of it as Bitcoin for All, whether you want it or not.)

May 6th was a banner day for big promises, as Lee Jae-myung—Democratic Party top dog—vowed to unleash spot crypto ETFs, knock down transaction fees, and generally make investing so safe and appealing that young Koreans could finally stop sobbing into their soju about housing prices and plan for the future instead. The Democratic Party, not to be outdone by themselves, made the exact same pledge last election cycle. Apparently, “delayed progress” is the new normal, which in political language means “We’ll get to it sometime soon. Maybe. Probably. Ish.”

Candidates back ETFs, but history winks knowingly

So, you’ve got politicians grinning behind a banner that reads “Crypto! Now with Extra Hope!” Regulation ninjas, however, are eyeing history’s greatest hits—and let’s just say the track record is more “Oops!… I Did It Again” than Beethoven’s Fifth.

Anndy Lian, famous for writing books and advising agencies while somehow still finding time to do interviews, chimes in: “Sure, they’ll probably try to be like Hong Kong. But whether the ETFs will work? That’s a whole other kimchi pancake.”

“They will take on similar stances as Hong Kong. Whether the ETFs can perform or not depends on various other factors.”

Lian imagines a world with a pro-crypto president steering the country toward the glistening shores of US-style Bitcoin ETF riches, with billions of net inflows and—insert angel choir here—a welcoming Financial Services Commission.

Now, about all these promises: The People Power Party (which sounds less like politicians and more like a superhero team) also said they’d buddy up to crypto ETFs a couple of years ago. They even pledged to ditch the notoriously cranky one-exchange-one-bank rule—and then forgot to RSVP before President Yoon was impeached. Oops.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s initial foray into Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, launched April 30, 2024, brought all the excitement of opening your long-lost 401k: some trading, but not exactly a Vegas jackpot.

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2025-05-14 18:12