By Zen, PaNews
seven years later, kva finally recovered &ldquao; the venture company &rdquao; and its identity as a technology-based start-up and growth company supported by venture capital, technology guarantee and policy financing。
the door was opened for encrypted companies by amendments to the special act enforcement order on the development of venture enterprises, adopted on 9 september by the korean ministry of venture investment and the cabinet of ministers. it will be removed from the trade list and will enter into force on 16 september。
seven-year restraining order with almost &ldquao; disappeared &rdquao; korean encryption start-ups
in october 2018, the korean government included virtual asset-related operations in the &ldquo of the special law enforcement order for the cultivation of venture enterprises; the restricted/restricted trade ” and the list, out of a position to discourage speculation and protect the financial stability of the diaspora. as in the case of nightclubs, casinos, etc., which are included in the same restricted trades, supervision treats encrypted currency as &ldquao; high-risk, non-authorized areas &rdquao。
At that time, the strict regulation of the Korean Government was also intrinsically justified. The current global trend of ICO has resulted in several incidents of “ ICO fraud ” and “ false projects ” in the case of thousands of Korean diaspora investors, the loss occurred。
For example, a company called Shinil Group has launched “ Shinil Gold Coin” and declared a promise that buyers would receive huge amounts of gold from the Russian sinking ship, whose tokens attracted $53.7 million of investment from some 100,000 Korean investors over more than a year. However, the CEO of the company later admitted “ there was no conclusive evidence that the ship contained anything of value ” and the ICO scam caused more than 2,600 investors to lose at least $8 million。
the proliferation of similar incidents, involving amounts ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, has exacerbated negative perceptions of public and government &ldquao; encryption speculation &rdquao; and has also become one of the main reasons for the tightening of south korea ' s regulation, marginalizing the virtual asset industry。
It should be pointed out that, although money-related start-ups are not prohibited altogether at this point in time, their inclusion in restricted industries carries a high risk and untrustworthy label and is clearly disadvantaged in comparison to artificial intelligence, biomedicine, etc., due to the lack of tax revenues, loan guarantees, policy financial support, etc。
According to Tracxn, as of 23 July this year, only one new start-up company was established in the field of block chain technology in Korea, and in 2018, 170 block chain technology start-ups were established, the largest number of start-ups in the past 10 years. In addition, between 2021 and 2022, only the city of encrypted cattle and the remaining heat, more than 100 block block-chain technology start-ups were established。
in addition, as of july 2025, korea block chain technology had raised $13.3 million in four rounds of equity financing, compared to $32.3 million & mdash; — a decrease of 58.82 per cent over the same period in 17 rounds of financing over the same period last year。
New political dynamics: improved regulatory systems and trends in digital assets
In an official bulletin issued by the Ministry of Venture Investment for SMEs, it was clearly stated that the newly amended implementing decree for the Venture Business Act was intended to create a digital asset ecosystem in line with global trends, to lay the foundation for the development of innovative industries, and to work with financial authorities to establish a transparent market order and to give priority to user protection. They point to the context of the growing global trend in virtual assets, respectively, and to the need to regulate encrypted currency markets and investor protection。
according to han sung-sook, minister of small and medium enterprises and start-up enterprises, key figures in this revision, this regulatory reform aims to align korea with global digital asset trends and ensure future growth engines. she said: “ we will concentrate on policy efforts to create a transparent and accountable ecosystem that allows for smooth flows of venture capital and supports the development of new and emerging industries。
As a result, the policy has been liberalized not only because of the significant rise in the global position of the digital asset industry, but also because of the growing regulatory environment in the Republic of Korea & mdash; — In 2021, Korea amended the Specific Financial Information Act to introduce a virtual asset enterprise reporting system, which incorporates virtual asset service providers into AML/KYC obligations similar to those of financial institutions; and the Virtual Asset Users and Other Protection Act, which came into force in 2024, which gives financial regulatory bodies substantive powers of supervision, inspection and sanction, and sets out a series of specific obligations to protect user assets and to prevent illicit transactions。
the revision of two key laws, namely “ anti-money laundering supervisory ” and “ user protection/market order ” fills the legal and regulatory gap in two directions and weakens the old “ the absence of regulation is simply a one-size-fits-all “ the policy logic has been transformed into an existing regulatory capacity sufficient to sustain industry support。
THE BAN IS LIFTED
The lifting of restrictions would undoubtedly give new life to the Korean encryption industry。
In the future, encryption start-ups will have easier access to domestic venture investment and government support, reduce the cost and difficulty of financing, create new early financing opportunities for areas such as DeFi, block chain infrastructure, and will accelerate the growth of their domestic block chain industries and expand their overseas influence。
For Korea's encryption windfall companies, they can also unwind their hands and may be more active in deploying capital to expand investment in early DeFi, the bottom of the block chain and infrastructure projects. VCs of concern include:
Hashed, one of the most influential and openly focused early wind investments in Korea on block chains/encrypted, is based in Seoul and has layouts in Silicon Valley, Singapore, etc. Hashed's long-standing participation in global and local heavy-pound projects (its official network and portfolio pages listed such links/projects as Aptos, Injective, etc.) and the organization of hackers, eco-building activities in Korea are important capital promoters and &ldquo in the Web3 ecology of Korea; community-investment ” examples of integration。
Dunamu & Partners, an investment subsidiary of the Upbit operator Dunamu, openly has a larger portfolio of outward investment, covering the block chain/FinTech and the wider science and technology start-up. As Dunamu itself is the operator of the head exchange, it may be able to provide market liquidity support to the projecter in its capacity as a strategic investor。
Kakao Ventures, a windward company in the Kakao series, has long been involved in strategic investments in block chains and payment scenes, providing traffic, bottom chains and commercialization for the project, through Kakao traffic and Kaia ecology. The Kakao series is an important strategic capital and ecological entry point for chain projects that want to land in Korea。
In addition, the Korean financial system and large scientific and technological consortiums are accelerating their distribution in the area of encryption. KB Investment, an investment platform of the banking and institutional systems, can provide the invested enterprises with the institutional capital and channel resources needed for long-term growth with financial power, compliance and wind control; while Samsung Next, the strategic investment sector of Samsung, is known for its industrial-level technology and market synergies, providing technology endorsement, global resource and eco-level cooperation opportunities for block chain infrastructure and applications projects。