South Korean Crypto-related Stocks Rise on News of Tax Delay

Crypto-related stocks rose again in South Korea after lawmakers agreed to delay the launch of crypto tax in the nation by a further two years.

After weeks of bitter standoffs, the National Assembly has finally agreed to vote in favor of a government-proposed bill that will see crypto tax launch in 2027, rather than January 2025.

Crypto-related Stocks: Buoyed by National Assembly News

Gangwondomin Ilbo reported that crypto-related stock prices “rose in tandem” on the morning of December 2, reacting to developments over the weekend.

However, most of these price gains proved ephemeral, rising in the early morning and falling back slightly later in the day.

Hanwha Investment & Securities, which owns shares in Dunamu, the operator of the Upbit crypto exchange, saw prices spike upwards as soon as the Korean Exchange opened on December 2.

Both Hanwha Investment & Securities and Hanwha Investment & Securities Preferred Stock prices rose by 8% and 11% respectively.

Woori Technology Investment, another Dunmau minority shareholder, saw a rise of 8.66%.

Both Hanwha Investment & Securities and Woori Technology Investment specialize in IT investment.

T Scientific, which holds shares in the Upbit rival Bithumb, saw more modest gains of 1.66%. The firm, a mobile services provider, also invested in the Hanbitco exchange in 2022.

Galaxia Moneytree, a Korea Exchange-listed financial services provider that co-launched South Korea’s first Bitcoin-powered payments service in 2021, enjoyed mixed fortunes.

The firm’s share prices initially shot up by 8%, but then fell back sharply to -2%.

South Korean crypto-related share prices often closely reflect the mood of the domestic crypto market.

When Will a Crypto Firm Debut on the Korea Exchange?

As of yet, no South Korean crypto firm has successfully floated on the Korea Exchange. Bithumb this year shelved its IPO bid in favor of a move to list on US markets.

The Upbit partner K Bank was also forced to pull the plug on its own IPO bid recently. However, the company claims it may return for a third bid to go public early next year.

On December 1, Democratic Party lawmakers – representing the largest political bloc in the National Assembly – caved in to government demands to delay crypto tax.

The Democratic Party had created a bill that instead suggested raising the annual threshold for crypto tax to parity with stock exchange investment.

However, the DP conceded defeat after the bill failed to pass the subcommittee phase.