The Office of the President of South Korea urged the FSC to reconsider the position of Bitcoin ETFs

Will South Korea Allow Bitcoin ETFs? The Financial Services Commission recently warned brokerage firms against offering US spot Bitcoin ETFs. The President's Office urges the FSC to reconsider its position, noting the possibility of including products listed abroad.

South Korea's presidential office has urged the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to review its position on the recently approved spot trading of Bitcoin ETFs.

Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved eleven spot Bitcoin ETFs — a nod that comes a decade after the first application. But a day after the ETF went on the market, the FSC issued a statement warning domestic companies against offering foreign-listed products.

An FSC official said South Korea does not want to follow the US in allowing spot ETFs.

The government urged the FSC to review its position

South Korea's presidential office is asking the country's financial regulator to look into the matter again, according to local media details on Thursday.

In a statement on Thursday, Sung Tae-yeon, chief policy officer at the Office of the President, told the government not to have a “yes or no” direction for the FSC. The view is that there is a need to find out how to better integrate the new ETFs and other markets into the local financial ecosystem, Tae-yoon added, noting that the government is considering this direction.

On January 12, the FSC said in a press release that domestic securities firms seeking to broker foreign-listed Bitcoin spot ETFs could violate the government's current position on virtual assets. Providing access may be in violation of the Capital Markets Act, he added.

The outlook contrasts with Hong Kong, where regulators have been open to recognizing ETFs.