South Korea’s Ruling and Opposition Parties Make Crypto-Related Poll Promises Ahead of Elections

• South Korea’s ruling People Power Party has made several promises around the crypto sector, including one to look into allowing spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

• The opposing Democratic Party has also promised to allow investors to purchase spot bitcoin ETFs and could present a full proposal for the sector on Wednesday.

• South Korea’s national elections are scheduled for later this year on April 10.

South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties are making crypto-related poll promises ahead of the national elections, scheduled for April 10.

The ruling People Power Party has made a series of poll promises based on local reports – it’s looking for ways to allow spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pledged to establish a ‘digital asset promotion committee’ to propose laws and impose sanctions, and that it will prioritize a regulatory framework before taxation, effectively delaying a crypto gains tax scheduled to be implemented in January 2025.

Taxation on income from virtual assets, as well as income from the “transfer or lending of virtual assets,” was initially delayed from 2023 to 2025. Still, the latest poll promise could see it potentially postponed till 2027.

“I think there is a need for at least a two-year delay until the amendment is passed and such a system is actually built,” a local report on Monday quoted an unnamed People Power Party leadership official.

On Tuesday, a report from South Korea’s Seoul Economy Daily said the opposing Democratic Party has promised to allow investors to purchase spot bitcoin ETFs. The party will reportedly announce its full proposal to institutionalize and vitalize the crypto sector on Wednesday.

The moves could represent crypto becoming an election issue in South Korea. The nation has seen young people in their 20s and 30s take a huge interest in crypto trading.

The level of interest took a hit after the spectacular collapse of Terra, the Do Kwon-run blockchain. It resulted in a series of regulatory measures that appeared to be a crackdown. But the mood has slowly started to change, as CoinDesk reported from Korea in September 2023.