South Korea is rewriting the law that governs everything the state owns, and crypto is going in. At a policy briefing held at the Blue House on July 15, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said it plans to introduce the National Asset Basic Act, which will replace the State Property Act of 1950. That old statute was built for a government whose wealth sat almost entirely in land and buildings. The new one adds virtual assets and intellectual property to the list.
It is the first overhaul of the state asset system in 76 years, and it says something about where Seoul thinks value now lives.
What the National Asset Basic Act Actually Covers
A caveat worth stating plainly is that this is a management law, not a strategic Bitcoin reserve. The National Asset Basic Act sets rules for how the government handles assets it already owns or comes to own, including seized crypto, state-held IP, and traditional property. The ministry argued the 1950 framework makes it hard to manage newer asset classes with any rigor, so the new law will introduce specialized management standards for each category.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol told the briefing that state assets should no longer be treated as mere holdings. The government wants to develop them and extract value for the national balance sheet. For crypto, that means Seoul now sees digital assets as something a state manages and grows, rather than merely confiscates and auctions.
Koo Yun-cheol’s Briefing Ties Crypto to a Bigger Economic Plan
The asset law was included in a broader second-half economic package. The same briefing committed to keeping inflation below 3% and accelerating the internationalization of the won, alongside a long-term national development strategy running to 2045.
Blockchain remained on that agenda. The ministry confirmed continued work on the Bank of Korea’s digital currency project and renewed its push on the Digital Asset Basic Act, the comprehensive crypto framework meant to govern stablecoins, exchanges, and issuers. That bill has been stuck for months. The Financial Services Commission and the Bank of Korea are still fighting over who licenses Won-pegged stablecoin issuers and who polices reserves, and the central bank told lawmakers this month that bank-led consortia should issue first.
Timing Is Awkward for Korea’s Crypto Market
The announcement arrived while domestic crypto trading was jolting back to life. On July 14, as the KOSPI sank roughly 4% intraday, Upbit’s 24-hour volume surged more than 1,400%, a sharp reversal after months of capital rotating into equities. Disruption Banking covered that exodus in January, when Korean exchange volumes collapsed 80% amid the KOSPI’s historic doubling.
The state can update its ledgers faster than it can pass a crypto law. Until the Digital Asset Basic Act clears the National Assembly, South Korea will have a government that formally manages virtual assets under statute, while the private market still waits for its rules. That gap is now the story to watch through the second half of 2026.
Author: Ayanfe Fakunle
The editorial team at #DisruptionBanking has taken all precautions to ensure that no persons or organizations have been adversely affected or offered any sort of financial advice in this article. This article is most definitely not financial advice.
See Also:
Korea’s Crypto Crash: 80% Volume Drop and ₩160T Exodus | Disruption Banking
How is the South Korean government regulating the blockchain space? | Disruption Banking
