The US Treasury Department's sanctions against Iran, now including digital assets, are impacting the Bitcoin market, while discussions on the second phase of digital asset legislation are accelerating in South Korea.
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The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sweeping economic sanctions against Iran. The five sectors targeted by these sanctions include digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping industries. Sixty individuals and entities are subject to the sanctions, and a warning was also issued that those who cooperate with Iran could be expelled from the U.S. dollar system.
The inclusion of digital assets in these sanctions carries significant symbolism. By expanding the scope beyond existing financial and oil-related sanctions to include digital assets and gold, the U.S. demonstrates its intent to fundamentally block the possibility of circumventing sanctions through Bitcoin or Ethereum.
The U.S. Treasury Department indicated its plan to sanction one financial institution as an example to enhance the effectiveness of these sanctions. This implies that sanctions against a specific bank, as part of a secondary boycott, could be implemented soon.
Despite the adverse news of Iran sanctions, Bitcoin is showing relatively robust movement. It attempted to break past $80,000 and is currently maintaining support in the upper $79,000 range.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated plans to use approximately $1 trillion from the Treasury's TGA account, which functions like an overdraft facility, to purchase government bonds as a measure to stabilize long-term bond yields. This is expected to supply liquidity to the market and contribute to interest rate stabilization.
The won-dollar exchange rate continues its stable trend, consistently falling below 1,400 won. If the exchange rate remains in the 1,380 won range until the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on August 27, the likelihood of an interest rate freeze is expected to increase. Exchange rate stability could alleviate the burden of interest rate hikes, expanding domestic virtual asset investors' capacity for investment.
The decline in the exchange rate creates a paradoxical situation where the increase in Bitcoin's dollar price is offset when converted to won. Even if Bitcoin's dollar price rises, the won-denominated return remains stagnant, leading to perceived losses for domestic investors. This is similar to the asset value decline experienced by 'Seohak Gaemi' (Korean retail investors in overseas stocks).
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Currently, the domestic virtual asset market continues to experience a reverse premium (-0.79%), which, coupled with the falling exchange rate, exacerbates relative losses for domestic investors. Even when Bitcoin's price significantly rose on the 21st, the reverse premium recorded -1.58%. This situation, combined with institutional uncertainties such as the introduction of virtual asset tax laws, is dampening domestic investment sentiment.
Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Byoung-hwan directly mentioned the government's preparedness for the second phase of digital asset legislation at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee meeting on the 24th, expressing his commitment. When Assemblyman Lee Kang-il urged that the government's proposal should not be delayed past the end of the year, Chairman Kim stated that the authorities have completed all preparations and will accelerate consultations, with progress expected this autumn.
The five main issues of the second phase of the Digital Asset Basic Act are: first, stablecoin regulation; second, the institutionalization of virtual asset issuance; third, disclosure obligations and listing guidelines; fourth, strengthening regulations on business operators' trading activities; and fifth, the issue of exchange governance. Specifically, discussions are underway regarding bank participation in stablecoin issuance qualifications, and 100% reserve asset backing is emphasized to prevent a recurrence of the Terra-Luna incident. This is part of efforts to ensure transparency and stability.
A plan to limit major shareholders' equity in virtual asset exchanges to a maximum of 20% is being seriously discussed. An exception allowing up to 34% in cases where there are no conflicts of interest is also being considered, but the introduction of an equity cap itself seems almost certain. This measure is interpreted as an effort to enhance the fairness and transparency of exchanges.
The Bithumb incident involving the misdelivery of 620,000 Bitcoin became a major catalyst for the creation of digital asset-related legislation. Following this incident, discussions on segregating user assets and mandatory strict verification of exchange ledgers are actively underway. Specifically, Assemblyman Lee Heon-seung raised questions about Bithumb's ledger verification, pointing out deficiencies in the exchange's internal control system.
While it's impossible to duplicate Bitcoin itself within an exchange, internally issued tokens can be duplicated, leading to misdelivery. This situation is interpreted as a structural problem similar to the past Samsung Securities 'phantom stock' incident. This is not merely a problem for Bithumb but an issue of internal control levels that can occur across financial institutions, and it can be resolved by properly applying financial institution operating principles.
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Market interest is growing in Perp DEX (Perpetual Decentralized Exchanges), which enable perpetual futures trading in an internet space without a traditional company. Recently, President Donald Trump mentioned handling regulations related to Perp DEX, bringing related regulations and business discussions by the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) back into focus.
While centralized exchanges (CEX) and decentralized exchanges (DEX) were once competitors, they are recently showing signs of integration. Coinbase has integrated Hyperliquid functionality into its Base app, and Robinhood is actively supporting Lyra. This suggests that the boundaries between traditional finance and the decentralized ecosystem are blurring.
Hyperliquid recently requested that the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) integrate regulations related to perpetual futures. Currently, perpetual futures are governed by different agencies depending on whether the underlying asset is a commodity or a stock; the request is to consolidate this. This is analyzed as a prelude to the introduction of perpetual futures as a regulated financial product.
Hyperliquid currently has about six times more perpetual futures trading volume than Lyra, and its fee revenue is 20-25 times higher. Lyra, on the other hand, offers most transactions for free, with subscription fees for premium accounts for institutional traders being its main revenue model. Lyra provides a service that differentiates trading speed through staking.
Both Hyperliquid and Lyra prioritize reducing dependence on venture capital (VC) investment and returning profits to users. Both platforms purchase or burn tokens based on fee revenue to provide rewards to users. Lyra, in particular, manages a portion of its revenue in a DAO treasury, encouraging community participation.
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