South Korea’s securities industry, which has been stepping up its digital asset business this year, is closely watching financial regulators’ moves after Bithumb’s large-scale bitcoin mispayment incident.

In talks on the Digital Asset Basic Act, limits on major shareholders’ stakes in exchanges and a bank 51 percent rule for won stablecoins have emerged as key disputes, making direct and indirect effects on securities firms’ digital asset strategies unavoidable.

On Feb. 13, politicians and the securities industry said the National Assembly passed amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act last month on Jan. 15 to introduce tokenised securities, with implementation set for January 2027.

With the timetable for formalising tokenised securities confirmed, the securities industry is expanding partnerships with issuance and distribution infrastructure, custody and settlement structures in mind.

DB Financial Investment signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation on Feb. 5 to build a tokenised securities-based digital capital market. It said it will pursue joint discovery of underlying assets for tokenised securities at home and abroad and review issuance and post-issuance management structures.

Shinhan Securities has joined Project Pulse, a blockchain-based collaboration chain for tokenised securities issuance and distribution infrastructure. It has also expanded cooperation with the Solana Foundation to include research on tokenised securities, real-world assets, custody and stablecoin-based payments.

Hanwha Investment & Securities has been carrying out cooperation on digital asset data and research and making investments after presenting an "RWA hub" vision at its 2026 management strategy meeting.

Mirae Asset Securities is reported to have completed digital asset wallet tests with multiple blockchain companies, fuelling talk of building infrastructure covering stablecoins and tokenised assets. It is also pursuing the acquisition of Korbit, one of the five major digital asset exchanges.

The mood has shifted somewhat after a large-scale bitcoin mispayment incident occurred at Bithumb on Feb. 6.

During an event gift payment process, Bithumb was supposed to enter 2,000 won but mistakenly entered the unit as 2,000 bitcoin, resulting in 620,000 bitcoin being paid out on its system. Critics say the incident showed that the level of internal controls in digital asset trading infrastructure can spill over into reputational risk for partner financial firms.

Korea Investment & Securities signed an MOU with Bithumb on Dec. 24 last year for strategic cooperation on digital assets, but signalled a cautious stance after the incident.

Korea Investment & Securities said, "There is currently no business we are doing together right now, and future cooperation schedules have not yet been specified," adding that it is watching how Bithumb handles the incident.

Amid this, limits on major shareholders’ stakes in exchanges, set at 15 to 20 percent in discussions on the Digital Asset Basic Act, are being cited as a burden for the securities industry.

Financial authorities are reported to have reviewed a 15 to 20 percent cap by referring to rules that limit major shareholders’ stakes to about 15 percent at alternative trading systems, given that digital asset exchanges have the nature of public infrastructure.

If a major shareholder stake limit is realised, securities firms’ plans to internalise the digital asset value chain through exchange equity investments and acquisitions could be constrained.

If exchanges’ governance structures are forcibly reshuffled, the stability of long-term partnerships could be shaken. That could also lengthen risk reviews before securities firms move into large-scale system integration or joint services.

The exchange industry is voicing opposition on the grounds that artificially dispersing stakes could make accountability unclear and run counter to user protection.

Another dispute is the bank 51 percent rule for won stablecoins. Under the Digital Asset Basic Act, a plan to limit won stablecoin issuers to corporations in which banks invest at least 51 percent has been considered a leading option, but critics say designing such a structure is not easy because under the current Banking Act banks can hold only up to 15 percent of a non-financial company’s shares.

Financial authorities are reported to have reviewed allowing won stablecoin issuance starting with bank-led consortia with a 50 percent plus 1 share stake.

If the bank 51 percent rule is applied, some analysts say the impact on the securities industry could be greater in terms of control and revenue structures than in terms of business opportunities themselves.

Stablecoins are likely to be used as payment and settlement rails for tokenised securities and real-world assets. If issuance and control authority is designed around banks, securities firms could be pushed into a position of using that infrastructure.

Others say a structure in which regulated banks hold a majority has advantages in terms of stability and trust, and could help securities firms partially reduce regulatory uncertainty when designing digital asset products and platforms.

An official in the financial investment industry said, "Major shareholder stake limits or the bank 51 percent rule are not so much bad news as they are a strong signal that demands major revisions to strategies." The official said, "An expansionary model that directly owns exchanges to internalise the value chain or takes the lead in payment infrastructure has become difficult under regulation."

The official added, "Rather than forcing an expansion of their scope, securities firms are likely to switch to a practical strategy that adjusts the level of phased cooperation with exchanges that have proven risks, and focuses on developing products that can leverage core strengths such as tokenised securities and real-world assets whose institutionalisation has been confirmed."