South Korea Moves to Cap Crypto Exchange Ownership and Tighten Stablecoin Rules

South Korea’s financial regulator has moved to reframe licensed crypto trading venues as public‑facing infrastructure, endorsing a proposal to cap single‑party or concentrated ownership of supervised exchanges in a band near 15–20 percent. Under the package being negotiated in the Digital Asset Basic Act, exchanges would shift from a short‑term notification model to an authorization framework that confers more durable operating status but imposes stricter suitability, governance and ownership checks. Lawmakers are also coalescing around a minimum capital requirement of about 5 billion won for stablecoin issuers, a floor meant to raise operational resilience and reduce issuer fragility. Those measures are being debated alongside central bank warnings: the Bank of Korea has voiced strong reservations about won‑pegged stablecoins, arguing they could complicate foreign‑exchange management and be used to skirt capital‑flow controls, and has signaled a preference for bank‑led issuance or tightly limited issuer eligibility. Practical market reactions are already visible. Major industry players are responding with governance moves and asset sales—Coinone has entered talks to divest a controlling stake, for example—suggesting exchanges are preparing for either forced or voluntary ownership reshuffles. At the same time, non‑regulatory gatekeepers are tightening access: Google’s Play Store will require proof of South Korean VASP registration for exchange and custodial wallet apps from Jan. 28, 2026, creating an additional compliance hurdle for offshore platforms and increasing friction for cross‑border service providers. Exchange operators warn that ownership caps would force complex restructurings or dilution that could alter valuations and strategic partnerships; strategic investors may be deterred by the prospect of required divestiture or protracted suitability reviews. Policymakers are weighing trade‑offs between reducing concentrated control to protect market integrity and preserving incentives for entrepreneurs and investors. If enacted, the combined effect of ownership limits, higher stablecoin capital floors, central‑bank issuance preferences and app‑store enforcement will likely accelerate consolidation toward well‑capitalized, bank‑aligned operators, reshape deal dynamics for potential buyers (domestic and foreign), and require transitional arrangements to unwind entrenched ownership positions. The final bill remains subject to committee negotiation and political timing, and the detailed design—implementation windows, carve‑outs, and interoperability with foreign‑exchange surveillance—will determine how quickly and sharply market structure shifts.