South Korea's government and central bank will draft an amendment to the foreign exchange law this year so that stablecoins are treated as payment instruments. The change would give a legal basis for using them in cross-border transactions, with reporting and supervision rules. Financial Services Commission chair Lee Eog-weon said the basic law on digital assets is close to completion. That law is expected to also govern the issuance of won stablecoins.

What it means: South Korea has one of the most active crypto markets in the world, and the decision to bring stablecoins under foreign exchange rules shows governments now see them as a means of payment rather than just an investment. This matters for capital controls: if a stablecoin can move abroad in seconds, reporting rules and limits have to apply to it too. Europe has already taken the equivalent step with MiCA, where stablecoins referencing a single currency count as e-money and can be issued only by licensed institutions. For Greek businesses that deal with Korea, for example in shipping or trade, the change may eventually open legal routes for stablecoin payments to and from the country. The rules will differ from European ones, though, so every transaction will have to comply with both frameworks, especially on identification and the information that travels with transfers. The development confirms that stablecoin regulation is a global trend, with the large Asian economies, Europe and the US building separate but similar regimes. For fintechs, interoperability between those regimes will be the next big question.

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