[Bitcoin Now] Will Corporate Coin Investment Accelerate... Industry Ramps Up Preparations

The path for corporations to invest in virtual assets is expected to open soon. Financial authorities are expected to announce related guidelines in the near future. Domestic virtual asset exchanges are also moving quickly in response.

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According to the virtual asset industry on March 10, the Financial Services Commission is currently preparing guidelines for "listed companies' cryptocurrency transactions" and plans to announce them soon.

At the "Academic Conference on Opening the Digital Asset Corporate Market and Building a Trust Infrastructure" held on March 5, Hong Jaeseon, an official from the Financial Services Commission, stated, "We will prepare policies as quickly as possible in connection with the second phase of legislative discussions on digital assets." He added, "Corporate market participation has been under review since last year, and we are considering necessary supplementary measures in terms of market stability, internal controls, and anti-money laundering."

According to the "Roadmap for Corporate Participation in the Virtual Asset Market" prepared by the financial authorities in February 2023, the first phase allows trading for law enforcement agencies, designated donation organizations, university foundations, and other non-profit corporations, as well as transactions by virtual asset exchanges for cash conversion purposes. In the second phase, about 3,500 corporations registered as listed companies and professional investors, excluding financial companies, will be allowed to conduct transactions for investment and financial purposes on a pilot basis. The third phase will fully allow virtual asset transactions for all general corporations. For law enforcement agencies, account issuance has been supported since the end of 2024, and starting in May of last year, the issuance of real-name accounts has been allowed for designated donation organizations, university foundations, other non-profit corporations, and virtual asset exchanges.

According to the original plan, the second phase roadmap allowing transactions by listed companies and professional investors should have been implemented after the second half of last year. However, the announcement of the guidelines has been delayed due to setbacks such as delays in the enactment of the Basic Digital Asset Act.

Once the path for corporate virtual asset investment opens, it is expected to have a positive impact on market activation and other areas. Jeongsoo Lee, professor at Seoul National University School of Law, said, "Currently, the domestic digital asset market is heavily focused on individuals, with corporate investment virtually restricted. If corporations participate as investment entities, the individual-centric market structure will be alleviated, liquidity will increase, and price volatility will be reduced."

An industry official stated, "In the domestic digital asset market, trading volume is declining and the market is contracting, which is due to the limitation that only individuals can participate. If corporations are allowed to participate, various positive effects are expected, especially in terms of liquidity."

Virtual asset exchanges are actively preparing for the upcoming allowance of digital asset investments by corporations.

Bithumb recently expanded the platform for its Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP) service-which automatically executes large orders by splitting them into multiple smaller trades over time-to include the Bithumb app, PC, and mobile web.

TWAP orders automatically divide the order quantity or amount equally based on the set total order period and interval, submitting them at market price. This method is designed so that the final execution price approaches the average price over the specified period, making it a strategy to minimize the price impact that may occur with large orders.

A Bithumb representative explained, "Split trading functions like TWAP can be used as strategic trading tools by both retail and institutional investors for volatility management," adding, "As discussions on allowing corporate investment continue, the need to prepare for large-scale trading demand is also increasing."

Earlier, in December last year, Upbit launched "Upbit Biz," a digital asset service exclusively for corporations. Its main features include differentiated 100% cold-wallet-based custody, institutional-grade system infrastructure, the largest trading liquidity in Korea, and an all-in-one solution integrating trading, storage, and management.

An industry official said, "Anticipating that corporate investment would be allowed last year, virtual asset exchanges have been preparing for related businesses since then," adding, "We are waiting for the government guidelines to be finalized as soon as possible."

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