South Korea Moves to Classify Cryptocurrencies as National Assets Under New Law

South Korea is preparing to bring cryptocurrencies into the scope of state assets through a new National Asset Basic Act, part of a broader push that also includes stablecoin rules, spot Bitcoin ETF proposals, and tokenized government bond pilots. At a government policy briefing on July 15 at Seoul's Presidential Blue House, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said it plans to introduce the National Asset Basic Act. The legislation would expand the definition of national assets to include cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets, while also covering newer categories such as intellectual property. The ministry said the framework is intended to strengthen how state assets are managed and developed. Unlike earlier crypto measures centered primarily on investor protection, the proposal positions digital assets as part of South Korea's long-term financial infrastructure. The initiative comes as the country, one of the world's largest crypto markets with an estimated 15% to 20% share of global trading volume, steps up work on a wider digital-asset policy agenda. In parallel, the government is drafting a Digital Asset Basic Act that would set licensing requirements for crypto firms, establish custody standards, and impose reserve requirements on stablecoin issuers. Lawmakers are also reviewing amendments to the Capital Markets Act that could open the door to South Korea's first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Officials are additionally developing a legal framework for cross-border stablecoin transactions to support the use of digital assets in international payments. Beyond regulation, South Korea is advancing tokenization plans. The government aims to tokenize state-owned real estate via security token offerings (STOs), enabling public investment and participation in returns. A pilot program for tokenized government bonds is scheduled for 2027, with plans to link those tokenized bonds to the Bank of Korea's wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure. Authorities will examine how the CBDC network can interoperate with other blockchain networks.