South Korean regulator warns against US Bitcoin ETF trading

The Financial Services Commission (FSC), a principal financial regulator in South Korea, has warned local firms against brokering spot Bitcoin

exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from the United States.

On Jan. 12, the FSC issued a brief press release emphasizing that domestic securities firms brokering overseas-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs “may violate” the existing government stance on virtual assets and the Capital Markets Act.

However, the statement notes that the regulatory regime for crypto in the country is still in its established stages. Thus, the commission plans to review the regulations regarding the updates overseas, specifically in the United States.

Related: Bitcoin spot ETF trading volume surpasses $1.6B within minutes of launch

The long-anticipated legal approval to trade spot Bitcoin ETFs came from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 10, while trading opened a day later, on Jan. 11.

Data compiled by Cointelegraph shows that the total volume across 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs reached more than $4.5 billion for day one trading. Timothy Peterson, an investment manager at Cane Macro, estimated that the buying activity across the ETFs means that approximately 47,000 Bitcoin

— worth $2.1 billion at current prices — will need to be purchased on the spot market.

Next in line are spot Ether

ETFs. For example, BlackRock filed for a spot Ether ETF in November 2023. The SEC deadline for a decision is May 23, 2024, and many crypto proponents believe the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs points to a positive outcome for an Ether ETF.

Magazine: MakerDAO’s plan to bring back ‘DeFi summer’ — Rune Christensen