South Korea considers easing restrictions on corporate crypto trading, with plans to gradually issue real-name accounts to institutional investors.

South Korea is set to allow corporations to invest in cryptocurrencies as the Financial Services Commission is considering a gradual approach to lifting restrictions, Yonhap News Agency reports, citing the regulator. Under the plan, companies will be able to open real-name accounts on crypto exchanges, starting with non-profit organizations.

As of press time, South Korea’s crypto laws only allow retail investors with verified real-name accounts to trade. While there is no official ban on institutional investors, banks have been advised not to issue real-name accounts to corporations, the report notes. The FSC aims to change this, with plans to discuss the issue through the Digital Asset Committee.

The financial regulator also plans to introduce measures that will allow fintech companies to grow. The goal is to improve collaboration between financial groups and fintech firms. There will also be improvements in how crypto exchanges are regulated, especially regarding the listing of tokens and the handling of stablecoins.

Earlier in January, Chairman of the South Korea Exchange, Jeong Eun-bo, said the trading platform wants to “explore” crypto spot ETF approval in 2025 as reports indicate that the FSC also wants to allow companies to launch security token offerings.

In his speech at the the Securities and Derivatives Market Opening Ceremony 2025, Jeong said the exchange will “benchmark overseas cases for new businesses such as cryptocurrency ETFs and explore new areas in the capital market.”

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds experienced a sharp drop in inflows on Jan. 7 as Bitcoin fell 5%, driven by rising expectations of a more hawkish approach from the Federal Reserve.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, surged past $102,000 yesterday, sparking renewed optimism among investors anticipating a market rally ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration.

However, the gains were short-lived as Bitcoin dropped by 5.7% within 24 hours, weighed down by rising U.S. bond yields and investor caution ahead of key economic updates, including the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes and nonfarm payroll data.

The increase in bond yields has fueled expectations of a more hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve. Officials have already signaled plans for only two interest rate cuts in 2025, fewer than previously anticipated. Investors are now awaiting the Fed’s meeting minutes, set to be released on Wednesday, Jan. 8, for more clarity on policymakers’ deliberations.

Further pressure on Bitcoin came from a U.S. Labor Department report revealing job vacancies had climbed to a six-month high, driven by growing demand in the services sector.

It precedes the crucial nonfarm payroll report scheduled for Friday. A stronger-than-expected jobs report could solidify expectations of prolonged Fed tightening, as a resilient labor market may continue to fuel inflationary pressures.

Bitcoin ETF inflows plunge by 94%

The falling Bitcoin price resulted in inflows of just $52.9 million across the 12 Bitcoin ETFs on Jan. 7, as expectations of a hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve dampened risk-on sentiment among investors. Notably, this figure represents a 94% drop compared to the $987 million inflows recorded the previous day.

According to data from SoSoValue, BlackRock’s IBIT was the only BTC ETF to record an inflow on Tuesday. The asset manager’s spot Bitcoin ETF drew in $596.11 million of inflows managing to offset the collective outflows seen from the other BTC ETFs.

ARK and 21Shares’s ARKB logged the highest outflows of the day with $212.55 million exiting the fund. Grayscale’s two Bitcoin ETFs tickered GBTC and BTC also contributed to the negative momentum with $125.45 million and $113.85 million outflows respectively.

Fidelity’s FBTC reported an outflow of $86.29 million while Franklin Templeton’s EZBC saw a more modest outflow of $5.58 million. The remaining BTC ETF saw “0” flows on the day.

Meanwhile, the daily trading volume for these investment products stood at $4.62 billion on Jan. 7 a jump from the $3.96 billion witnessed a day before.

AT press time Bitcoin (BTC) was exchanging hands at $96,145 per coin.

Real Vision’s chief digital assets analyst Jamie Coutts says that a nascent but soaring crypto sector could continue its upward trend for a few more months.

Coutts tells his 32,100 followers on the social media platform X that he thinks crypto artificial intelligence (AI) agents will continue to perform well in the coming months.

Crypto AI agents are protocols built to autonomously perform tasks on behalf of users such as interacting with blockchains and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, trading and managing portfolios.

Says Coutts,

“The last big crypto hype cycle was from November 2020 to May 2021, around six months. Subsectors like DeFi, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) around six-12 months.

Interest in AI agents in crypto took off in November 2024. Based on history, this trend is expected to last at least another four months, but probably longer.

AI agents are not like the others – they unlock potential for every established and new use case.”

The Real Vision analyst, however, says that crypto AI agents could face a severe correction after reaching the cycle top.

“There will be many scams (tread carefully/position size), and as with every hype cycle, the dump will be massive, but I suspect this move still has a way to go.”

According to the cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko, some of the AI-focused crypto projects that rank among the top 100 digital assets by market cap include Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET), Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) and ai16z (AI16Z).

Artificial Superintelligence Alliance is a me ging of various decentralized AI platforms whose goal is to speed up the advancement of decentralized Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI).

Virtuals Protocol is a platform that aims to enable the co-ownership of AI agents.

Meanwhile, the ai16z crypto project is designed to leverage AI-driven insights to direct investments in blockchain projects.

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney