Bank of Korea plans forex law amendment to cover stablecoin payments

The Bank of Korea plans to draft an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act with the government before the end of the year that would regulate stablecoins as a means of payment, according to a written submission to the National Assembly's annual audit reported by Korean outlet Digital Asset. The central bank's 22 October report, a follow-up to last year's audit, says it is consulting with the government on measures to regulate cross-border transactions in virtual assets and intends to prepare the amendment this year while building a monitoring system based on foreign exchange network reporting.

The submission sets out an intention to draft legislation rather than a bill: no draft text, named token or passage date has been published. In Korean forex law, "means of payment" is a defined term for an instrument whose cross-border movement must be reported, so on that reading the amendment would place dollar stablecoins under controls comparable to those on a wire transfer abroad rather than make them legal tender domestically. The Bank of Korea cited settlement outside the banking system, mixers and regulatory gaps around personal wallets as factors that ease illegal transactions.

The forex work runs alongside the Digital Asset Basic Act, the licensing and stablecoin-issuance framework flagged alongside spot bitcoin ETF approval in the government's 2026 growth strategy. Financial Services Commission chairman Lee Eog-weon told lawmakers on Thursday that consultations are in their final stage and the bill will follow as soon as possible, Bloomingbit reported. The central bank said it will work with ministries to limit transactions that exploit the gap until that law exists.

The gap has a date attached. Korea's crypto income tax is due to take effect on 1 January 2027, according to The Block, after three postponements, and lawmakers have questioned taxing a market before the law defining it is passed. Lee said on Thursday the tax should "take various circumstances into full consideration", per Yonhap. Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok called for a "thorough final review", a shift from a party that had insisted on 2027, and two petitions - one to repeal the tax and one to defer it by two years - each cleared the 50,000 signatures that force a legislative review. The National Tax Service has not moved, and plans to finalise its draft tax notice by 30 October, Digital Asset reported.