South Korea’s financial regulator is preparing a consolidated digital asset law covering stablecoin issuance and cryptocurrency market oversight in coordination with the ruling party, while opposition lawmakers press to abolish a scheduled income tax on digital assets. The Financial Services Commission intends to table the government-backed proposal after months of legislative delays.

The draft Digital Asset Basic Act would address stablecoin issuance and circulation, digital asset business requirements, exchange entry standards, disclosure obligations, internal controls and system resilience. Ten separate digital asset and stablecoin bills currently sit before parliament, and disagreements have blocked agreement on key elements of the country’s second-stage cryptocurrency framework. Outstanding issues include whether issuers of won-denominated stablecoins must be majority-owned by banks and whether ownership caps should apply to large exchanges. The timing and precise form of the consolidated bill remain undecided.

Separately, the National Assembly’s Finance and Economic Planning Committee was due to consider an opposition measure that would repeal the cryptocurrency income tax before its scheduled start on January 1, 2027. The amendment, introduced in March by a People Power Party lawmaker, seeks to remove the tax on income from transferring or lending digital assets. It is expected to move to a tax subcommittee for closer examination. A related public petition supported by more than 50,000 people is also set for review by a petitions subcommittee, though neither body has been fully formed and no meeting dates have been fixed.

Under the existing schedule, annual income from crypto transfers or lending above 2.5 million won faces a 20 percent tax plus a 2 percent local surcharge. The government and ruling Democratic Party support implementation, while the opposition contends that the levy is inequitable because most ordinary equity investors remain exempt. The Finance Ministry confirmed in May that the tax would proceed after earlier postponements.