Largest South Korean Parties Promise Bitcoin Etfs Before Election

Ahead of South Korea's April 10, 2024 legislative election, both the ruling-party-aligned People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DPK) pledged pro-Bitcoin policies, most notably approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF. The PPP first signaled the shift on February 19, 2024, proposing a Digital Asset Promotion Committee and a temporary pause on capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency, possibly for two years. The DPK followed on February 20 with a plan to let individual investors buy Bitcoin ETFs through individual savings accounts, and promised a comprehensive digital asset proposal on February 21. The article, by Landon Manning, argues that youth support and the rising popularity of Bitcoin among young South Koreans made both parties adopt these pledges.