On January 12th, Bloomberg reported that South Korea is trying to prevent a large amount of speculative funds from flowing into the US spot Bitcoin ETF. The country's securities regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said on Thursday that brokers of such ETFs may violate the government's current stance on virtual assets and its capital market law. This statement has caused confusion among investors and led to a sharp drop in related stocks in early Friday trading, with Wizit Co.'s stock price plummeting 13% at one point.

This move is the first major regulatory response after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved about a dozen ETFs that directly hold Bitcoin earlier this week. South Korea is known for its enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies and passed a digital asset law last year to strengthen investor protection. Consumer protection has become more important after the token collapse founded by Do Kwon caused more than $40 billion in losses. The FSC stated that it plans to further review digital asset rules as overseas regulations change.