South Korean regulators have granted a second crypto brokerage with a VASP license, suggesting they may finally be ready to let companies buy Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptoassets.
Per Hanguk Kyungjae, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), has processed the application of the cryptoasset brokerage platform company Happy Block.
VASP License Approval: Opening the Door to Corporate BTC Buying?
The approval comes hot on the heels of the FIU’s decision to grant a VASP license to another brokerage – named Waybridge – in late December last year.
A South Korean crypto exchange customer trades Bitcoin. (Source: YTN Science Today/YouTube/Screenshot)
The FIU operates under the auspices of the country’s top regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
The unit is the only body in the country with the power to grant companies virtual asset service provider (VASP) licenses.
Until the past few weeks, only a handful of crypto exchanges have managed to secure VASP permits.
Since Seoul started policing the crypto industry in earnest in 2018, all crypto brokerages have had to shut up shop.
However, the FSC appears ready to soften its famously hardline stance on crypto regulation in 2025.
Regulator Speaks of ‘Gradual’ Reform
The FSC has refused to commit itself to crypto deregulation. But it has suggested it could “review” its policy on allowing companies to buy BTC and other cryptoassets with their balance sheets.
The Happy Block approval appears to be a step in this direction. The firm is “a digital assets brokerage company” that launched in May 2022.
It calls itself a “digital securities company” and has reportedly been “preparing virtual asset brokerage services for corporations.”
Its high-profile backers include SK Securities, and it also has partnership deals with overseas players like Fireblocks and Kaico.
The firm is also developing a platform for “institutional investors,” with integrated management, custody, and personal crypto wallet services.
Companies Keen on Crypto
The company also plans to provide over-the-counter (OTC) brokerage services for crypto orders and “bulk transactions for institutions.”
A wide range of South Korean companies are thought to be keen to buy BTC and other tokens.
However, they are currently unable to do so, as FSC guidelines to banks effectively prohibit financial institutions from letting corporate customers open crypto exchange-linked accounts.
This is because financial regulators have ruled that virtual assets “are not financial investment products under the terms of the Capital Market Act.”
However, the same media outlet wrote that the FSC has “been moving to ease regulations related to virtual assets, albeit slowly, this year.”
The FSC has stated that it will be “gradual” with the process. Industry insiders think that public bodies will first be granted the right to sell crypto donations before other firms get the green light.
An unnamed South Korean financial investment industry insider told the media outlet:
“Currently, even in the US, traditional securities firms do not handle receiving orders for cryptoassets managed by asset management companies.”
Bitcoin ETF Approval Next?
The same insider added that the move could also eventually see the FSC open the door to Bitcoin spot ETF approval. The source said:
“If domestic virtual asset ETFs are introduced, there will naturally be a need for bodies who can execute institutional investor orders. Crypto brokerage companies have been preparing for that very role. I believe the FSC approved the [VASP application] because it deemed it necessary [for Bitcoin ETF approval].”
However, the FSC has made cagey statements on calls to approve Bitcoin spot ETFs. Earlier this year, the FSC Director Kwon Dae-young said that Bitcoin ETF approval would be going “a step too far.”
Gangnam, in Seoul, South Korea. The district is home to most of the nation’s biggest crypto companies. (Source: Gdog (CC BY-SA 3.0])
But Kwon conceded that the government was “fully aware of the changes [in crypto regulation] that are taking place globally.”
Meanwhile, Happy Block CEO Kim Gyu-yoon said that the firm was “planning to pursue business in line with the policy direction of financial regulators.”
Kim promised to “respond to major issues such as investor protection […], anti-money laundering, and taxation issues.”
The CEO also mentioned the need to “carry out business in accordance” with regulators’ “schedule for introducing spot ETFs.”
The company’s wait for VASP approval has been a long one. Around a year and five months have passed since Happy Block first submitted its application to the FIU.
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