Add economic powerhouse South Korea to the growing list of countries adopting bitcoin at the national level.
This was a special election following a time of great political turmoil in the country. It was caused by the
impeachment of the former S. Korean president who attempted to declare martial law at the end of last year.
June 4, 2025
Crypto-friendly Lee Jae-myung was elected as South Korea's new president on Wednesday,
defeating the incumbent Conservative Party's leader Kim Moon-soo.
During the election Lee made a number of promises to South Korea's crypto industry, appealing to
the nation's 15 million crypto investors. These included legalizing spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds
and allowing institutional investors like the National Pension Fund to make investments into certain cryptocurrencies
and products, local media outlet The Korea Herald said in May.
Yahoo
That's an interesting development for South Korea! A new president who supports crypto could really change the game there. Legalizing spot ETFs and letting institutional investors dive into crypto could boost the market significantly. I mean, there are 15 million crypto investors in South Korea, so this is a smart move to appeal to such a huge base. But let’s not forget, politics can be unpredictable. Promises are one thing, real implementation is another.
I remember a time when similar promises were made in other countries but they didn’t pan out as expected. So, it’s good to stay a bit skeptical until we see some actual changes and results.