Hong Joon-pyo Vows to Ease Crypto Rules to Woo 15 Million South Korean Crypto Voters

Presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo is championing aggressive deregulation of South Korea's cryptocurrency industry, replicating tactics by former U.S. President Donald Trump. People Power Party candidate Hong rolled out his overall tech-savvy agenda at an April 16 rally in Yeouido, Seoul.

Hong is looking to develop an open regulatory environment that fosters digital asset innovation and blockchain adoption. His campaign views crypto-friendly policies as a means of driving national economic growth and tapping into South Korea's enormous crypto user base—now over 15 million strong.

Crypto Becomes a Political Battleground

With a general election on June 3, 2025, digital asset policy has become a central point of discussion. Numerous South Korean voters in their 20s and 30s are crypto investors, and parties on both sides have made promises like tax relief in previous elections to win the support of this group.

Hong is leaning into this mood, pledging a deregulatory stance that mirrors the Trump-era U.S. During Trump's term in office, senior U.S. agencies experienced leadership shifts that resulted in more crypto-friendly positions. In March, the current administration further raised the stakes by signing an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and hoard large tokens such as Ethereum, Solana, and Ripple.

SOUTH KOREAN CANDIDATE HONG JOON-PYO PLEDGES TRUMP-STYLE CRYPTO DEREGULATION

Hong Joon-pyo, a presidential candidate from South Korea’s ruling People Power Party, has vowed to dismantle crypto regulations “to the extent seen under the Trump administration.”

He aims to promote… pic.twitter.com/c9Idpla8dc

— Crypto Town Hall (@Crypto_TownHall) April 16, 2025

Expanding Beyond Blockchain

Though crypto is one of the fundamental pillars of his campaign, Hong's economic strategy goes into the frontier technologies as well. His five-point strategy features a five-year, 50 trillion won investment plan to focus on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and productivity-linked social programs. The public-private scheme also aims to manage national debt responsibly in consonance with innovation-led growth.

The candidate's thrust is consistent with national trends. The National Pension Service made substantial investments in crypto-associated companies like Coinbase and Strategy (previously MicroStrategy) last year, which demonstrates increasing institutional faith in digital assets.

Financial Institutions Support Regulatory Reform

In tandem with Hong's proposals, South Korea's banks have been calling lawmakers to scrap the provision mandating crypto exchanges to join hands with only one domestic bank. It states that being single-banked impedes merit-based competition as well as stifles choice on services for clients.

Also, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is currently considering restrictive KYC regulations that shut out foreign involvement in Korea's cryptocurrency markets. Kim Sung-jin, the FSC's virtual asset chief, indicated policy changes would be supported if they allow easier access without sacrificing compliance levels.

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