South Korea’s ruling party and financial regulators have agreed to cap the stake that major shareholders can hold in cryptocurrency exchanges at 20%, a move that could force some of the country’s biggest trading platforms to restructure their ownership as Seoul pushes ahead with a broader regulatory framework for digital assets.
The agreement was reached during talks between the Democratic Party’s digital asset task force and the Financial Services Commission (FSC), according to local media reports.
The ownership ceiling is expected to be included in the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, a wider bill that will also cover stablecoin issuance and cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds.
The FSC had proposed the ownership cap earlier this year as part of efforts to reduce governance risks linked to concentrated control of exchanges. The regulator may still allow exceptions of up to 34% through enforcement decrees, offering some flexibility as the law is implemented.
For major exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb, lawmakers plan to enforce the cap after a three-year grace period once the legislation is passed. Smaller exchanges would receive an additional three years to comply.
The measure could require substantial changes for leading operators. Bithumb’s controlling shareholder holds more than 73% of the exchange, while Binance owns more than 67% of Gopax, both well above the proposed ceiling.
That means some exchanges may need to dilute ownership or divest stakes to meet the new rules.
The proposal has met resistance from the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance, which represents South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges.
The group has warned that limiting major shareholder stakes could hinder the industry’s growth, arguing that forcing changes to private ownership structures may weaken a sector that is still developing.
Regulatory concerns were heightened by Bithumb’s accidental transfer of about $43 billion worth of bitcoin last month, an incident that reportedly exposed shortcomings in internal controls and risk management. The episode added urgency to calls for tighter oversight of exchange governance.
The planned ownership cap marks another step in South Korea’s effort to bring its crypto sector under a more formal regulatory regime.
