Participation in a panel discussion at a National Assembly seminar on digital asset legislative issues

The seminar "U.S. crypto-asset fundraising policy and Korea's digital asset legislative issues" was held on September 22, 2026, in Seminar Room 1 of the National Assembly Members' Office Building. It was organized by MRI, a digital asset research institute, and sponsored by the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), a joint body of Korean virtual asset exchanges. Jonghyup Kim, CEO of PARAMETA, the Alliance's chair company, took part in the panel discussion.

Key points of the presentations

The first presentation covered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal "Regulation Crypto Assets." The presenter was Jongseung Kim, CEO of MRI. The proposal would exempt offerings of a certain size from registration and require principles-based disclosure. Jongseung Kim said this change could concentrate technology and capital in the United States, and called for Korea to improve its procedures not only for fundraising but also for circulation and verification.

Seohui Han, an attorney at Lee & Ko, proposed setting out separate issuance and disclosure rules specific to digital assets, rather than simply folding them into the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA). The proposal is for two-stage disclosure: information on the issuer and the asset is disclosed at issuance, and blockchain network information continues to be provided after that.

Panel discussion

The discussion was moderated by Yusin Jung, professor at Sogang Graduate School of Business. The panelists were Nayun Seo, Director of the Virtual Asset Division at the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea's financial regulator; Jeonggeun Lee, chairman of EQBR Holdings; Yongil Kim, vice president of global business development at Ava Labs; and Jonghyup Kim.

Jonghyup Kim attributed the gap between Korea and the United States to the direction each country's regulation points in. "In the end, it is very important to present a clear direction," he said, adding, "I think that in Korea, that direction itself has not been set." He also explained that because the direction was unclear around 2017 to 2018, a number of projects had no choice but to do business through overseas entities, even though the domestic market was large and users were keen to participate. On fundraising, he cited the issuer's responsibility, participants' trust and the steady provision of information as important conditions.

Yongil Kim viewed user and investor protection as central to U.S. policy. Jeonggeun Lee looked back on starting a game business in the 1990s and expressed the hope that the rules would change for the better so that this industry, too, could grow as the game industry did.

On the schedule for the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act (working title), a bill under discussion, Director Seo said the FSC was preparing with the November discussion in the legislative subcommittee of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee in mind. Seo explained that the preparation is meant to allow the discussion to continue on the bills already submitted to the National Assembly, even if the government bill comes out late. In a media interview right after the seminar, Seo added that the draft being prepared covers the issuance and circulation of virtual assets as a whole, as well as market entry regulation.