FSC Plans to Limit Ownership Stake of Major Shareholders of South Korean Crypto Exchanges to 15-20%

BlockBeats News, December 30th. According to KBS, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea's parliamentary report on the "Basic Digital Asset Law" revealed that domestic cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea with 11 million users (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit) have been defined as the "core infrastructure" of virtual asset circulation. The FSC believes that a few founders and shareholders have exerted excessive control over the operation of the exchanges and proposed to restrict the ownership distribution of major shareholders to between 15% and 20%. Holding up to 30% of the shares is only allowed in special cases approved by mutual funds or the Financial Services Commission.

If these standards are confirmed, the operator of Upbit (South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange), Dunamu, may be affected as the Chairman of Dunamu holds approximately 25% of Upbit's shares. Bithumb is also within this scope as Bithumb Holdings owns 73% of Bithumb's shares. The South Korean crypto industry has criticized this move, stating that the government is attempting to impose excessive regulation beyond market norms.