Bank of Korea Governor Shin Vows Closer Oversight of Foreign-Issued Crypto Cards as Payments Estimated at $10 Billion
Key Takeaways
- •Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song pledged closer oversight of foreign-issued crypto cards, citing several distinct risks, during Monday's National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee audit at the central bank.
- •Payments made with foreign-issued crypto cards are estimated at roughly $10 billion, a figure cited during the parliamentary session.
- •These cards allow holders to spend digital assets held on overseas platforms without converting them into South Korean won through domestic exchanges.
- •Regulators have long viewed the domestic use of overseas-issued crypto cards as a potential way to bypass South Korea's real-name verification and virtual asset reporting requirements.
- •The Bank of Korea has repeatedly cautioned that tighter links between crypto markets and the broader financial system could complicate monetary policy and financial stability.
Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song said foreign-issued crypto cards carry several distinct risks and pledged closer oversight of their use, speaking on Monday at the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee audit held at the central bank.
The governor's remarks came in response to questioning from a Democratic Party member during the session. Payments made with foreign-issued crypto cards are estimated at roughly $10 billion, a figure cited in connection with the discussion that conveys the scale of the activity now drawing supervisory attention.
Shin is a veteran international policymaker who previously served as chief economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and chaired the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision — the international body that sets supervisory standards for banks — before taking the helm of South Korea's central bank.
Foreign-issued crypto cards allow holders to spend digital assets held on overseas platforms without converting them into South Korean won on domestic exchanges. South Korean rules require virtual asset users to trade through licensed domestic platforms using real-name verified accounts, a framework intended to keep trading within supervised, identity-verified channels, and regulators have long viewed the domestic use of overseas-issued crypto payment cards as a potential route around those requirements, including the reporting obligations that apply to virtual asset transfers.
The audit appearance adds to a series of public comments by the Bank of Korea on digital-asset risks. The central bank has repeatedly cautioned that tighter links between crypto markets and the wider financial system could complicate monetary policy and financial stability, and has weighed in on how stablecoins and crypto-linked payment channels should be regulated. How the pledged oversight is put into practice — and what it means for a payment channel that runs between overseas crypto platforms and South Korean users — remains to be seen as the country's approach to digital-asset payments continues to take shape.
This content was first published on COINOTAG: https://en.coinotag.com/bank-of-korea-rhee-foreign-crypto-card-monitoring-10-billion
