South Korea’s central bank is clashing with lawmakers over how to regulate one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency markets amid fears that frenzied demand for stablecoins is stoking capital outflows.
The ruling party has proposed legislation allowing companies with as little as Won500mn ($360,000) in equity capital to issue won-based stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency backed by fiat money holdings.
But the central bank is concerned that allowing their issuance could spark massive capital outflows that would hamper its ability to respond to foreign exchange crises such as the one that swept across Asia in 1997. That has put the Bank of Korea at odds with the government.