The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea has announced that domestic securities firms are prohibited from offering spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in international markets.
In a statement released on Jan. 12, the FSC stated that domestic securities firms cannot offer spot Bitcoin ETFs overseas, citing concerns that it may go against the government’s current stance on virtual assets. Despite this restriction, the FSC hinted at the possibility of reassessing its regulations on cryptocurrencies in the future, although no specific details were provided.
Reports from Korean news outlets revealed that local securities firms such as Mirae Asset Securities and Samsung Securities have halted transactions for clients in Canada and Germany involving spot Bitcoin ETFs in compliance with the regulations. Mirae Asset Securities, for example, suspended trading of its Purpose Bitcoin ETF, which had been trading without restrictions on the Canadian stock exchange since February 2021 until the recent changes.
The FSC official emphasized that there have been no plans to revise the government’s policy on virtual asset investments by financial institutions, despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving spot Bitcoin ETFs. South Korea solidified its stance on cryptocurrencies on Dec. 13, 2017, when emergency measures were introduced to prohibit financial institutions from holding, purchasing, using as collateral, or investing in cryptocurrencies.
On Jan. 10, the SEC gave the green light for multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on all registered national exchanges in the U.S., including Nasdaq, NYSE, and CBOE, after a ten-year effort to approve these products. Following the approval, SEC Chair Gary Gensler cautioned investors in a statement, stating that the agency did not endorse Bitcoin and advising caution due to the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and related products.
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