South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has finalised guidelines allowing listed companies and professional investors to trade cryptocurrencies.
The move ends a nine-year ban on corporate crypto investment introduced in 2017 over money laundering concerns.
Eligible firms will be permitted to allocate up to 5% of their equity capital annually to digital assets.
Investments will be limited to the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation on Korea’s major exchanges.
Around 3,500 listed companies and professional investment entities are expected to qualify under the new framework.
Regulators will require exchanges to apply order size limits and staggered execution to manage market impact.
The policy aligns with the government’s broader 2026 Economic Growth Strategy, which includes plans for spot crypto ETFs.
Industry participants said the 5% cap is overly restrictive compared with markets such as the US, Japan and the EU.
Applying excessive regulations only to crypto could leave Korea behind as global markets accelerate.
One industry official said.
The FSC is expected to publish final rules in early 2026, with corporate trading anticipated later in the year.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $91,389.68.