South Korea plans to cap major shareholders' stakes in stock exchanges at 20%, potentially forcing companies like Upbit to restructure their shareholdings.

PANews reported on March 4th that...

According to The Block, South Korean regulators and lawmakers have reached an agreement on capping shareholdings by major shareholders in cryptocurrency exchanges, proposing to limit the percentage of shares held by "major shareholders" to 20%, with some exceptions allowing up to 34%. If the legislation is passed, leading platforms such as Upbit and Bithumb will have a three-year grace period to complete their equity restructuring, while smaller exchanges will have a six-year grace period.

Currently, Bithumb Holdings holds over 73% of Bithumb's shares, and Binance holds over 67% of Gopax, far exceeding the proposed cap, potentially requiring significant reductions or dilution of their holdings. This restriction is expected to be incorporated into South Korea's comprehensive cryptocurrency regulatory bill, the Basic Law on Digital Assets.