As the Donald Trump administration moves to seize digital asset hegemony through strategies such as making Bitcoin a strategic asset and activating dollar stablecoins, a suggestion has emerged that Korea must also quickly establish a regulatory framework to leap forward as a leading country.
Dennis Porter, CEO of Satoshi Action Fund, emphasized at the 'Bitcoin Seoul 2025' keynote speech on 'US Bitcoin Legislation and Global Policy Trends' that "Bitcoin will soon dominate the world" and that "it is an inevitable and unstoppable train".
Porter, a policy strategist who has proposed Bitcoin legislative models to state governments across the US, played a crucial role in the Bitcoin Strategic Bit Reserve (SBR) administrative order issued by President Donald Trump in March. He stated, "We must prepare to live in a fundamentally different world" and that "Bitcoin will become the basic infrastructure of the future, and now is the right time to design appropriate policies".
As major countries worldwide begin incorporating virtual assets into the institutional framework, the market is experiencing explosive growth. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market capitalization of virtual assets reached $3.28 trillion on this day, growing more than tenfold from $265 billion just five years ago.
He emphasized the importance of establishing regulatory clarity in preparation for the virtual asset market expansion. Currently, the US is actively promoting regulatory frameworks such as the Virtual Asset Market Structure Bill and the Stablecoin Bill 'Genius Act'. In Korea, there are recent movements to propose a Digital Asset Basic Law that includes definitions, issuance, and distribution regulations for virtual assets. Porter stated, "Regulatory clarity is not just administrative convenience but a key element that provides confidence to all investors and users," and expects that clear regulations will attract large-scale investments and have a very positive impact on the virtual asset industry.
Porter cited the 1996 US Telecommunications Act as a representative example. He predicted that if clear regulations are introduced to the virtual asset market, just as the telecommunications law revision led to explosive growth in telecommunications, Wi-Fi, and broadband infrastructure, the related market will expand beyond imagination, and negative perceptions about virtual assets such as crime and fraud could be resolved.
He argued that virtual assets like Bitcoin could be a significant advantage for governments facing debt problems. Porter revealed that based on their research, if governments had held just 3% Bitcoin since 2018 when dollar purchasing power dropped by 25%, they could have completely offset the purchasing power decline.
In the 'Bitcoin Policy Summit: Seoul Edition' session on 'Asia's Bitcoin Policy: Balance of Regulation and Innovation', discussions about virtual asset regulations continued. Kang Jin, Legal Director of Hashd, who moderated the discussion with Porter, suggested that establishing institutions is about creating a friendly environment for the virtual asset industry and that it is most important to listen to developers and industry professionals when drafting policies.
Voices emerged that if virtual asset institutions are established, Korea has the potential to rapidly develop its virtual asset industry. Kang noted that Korea has an integrated platform to expand into various fields like finance, infrastructure, payment, K-pop, and entertainment, and predicted Korea could become one of the top five countries in this sector.
Porter anticipated that stablecoins could change the virtual asset market landscape. He stated that the next five years will determine which country becomes a superpower, and that as stablecoins begin to be used, it could lead to Bitcoin purchases and change the market dynamics.
- Reporters Shin Jung-seop, Kim Byung-jun
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