South Korea Plans National Asset Law to Include Virtual Assets

Highlights:

• South Korea plans to bring virtual assets under a new national asset management law.
• The proposed law would give virtual assets, financial assets, and intellectual property their own management rules.
• The government is also considering tokenizing state-owned property, but the plan still needs legal approval.

South Korea plans to create a new law that would include virtual assets in the country’s national asset management system. The Ministry of Finance and Economy announced the proposal on July 15 as part of its policy plans for the second half of 2026.

The proposed National Asset Basic Act would change how the government manages more than 1,400 trillion won in state assets. It would expand the system beyond traditional assets such as land and buildings. Virtual assets, financial assets and intellectual property would also receive separate management rules.

🇰🇷BREAKING: South Korea moves to officially recognize CRYPTO as a national asset.

The proposed law will include virtual assets and intellectual property alongside government-owned land and real estate, replacing rules dating back to 1950. pic.twitter.com/tpajPjvGAU

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) July 15, 2026

New Law Would Expand the Definition of State Assets

South Korea currently manages government property under the State Property Act, which was introduced in 1950. The law was mainly designed for physical property and does not fully cover newer types of assets that have gained value over time. The government now wants a broader system that can manage each type of asset according to its own features. Officials said using property-based rules for very different assets has limited the government’s ability to manage them properly.

However, the announcement does not mean that South Korea plans to buy Bitcoin or build a national cryptocurrency reserve. The proposal focuses on virtual assets that come under government ownership or control. Further rules will be needed to explain which virtual assets the law will cover and how authorities will store, value or sell them. These details were not included in the initial announcement.

Government Plans Wider State Asset Reforms

The government also wants to change its approach from simply holding or selling state property to actively managing assets and increasing their long-term value. As part of the reform, South Korea plans to conduct a full review of state-owned property every year. The review currently takes place once every five years. Authorities also plan to build an artificial intelligence-based database to improve asset records and identify property that may not be properly managed.

South Korea is also considering the tokenization of state-owned real estate through security token offerings. Tokenization creates digital units that represent rights linked to a real-world asset. The government said returns from these assets could be shared with the public, although the final structure has not been confirmed.

The National Asset Basic Act is still a proposal and must pass through the country’s legislative process before taking effect. More details are expected as the government prepares the bill and its implementation plan.

The latest proposal follows South Korea’s plan to pilot tokenized government bonds through the Bank of Korea’s CBDC system in 2027. Together, the two initiatives show that authorities are exploring wider uses of blockchain for public assets, financial settlement and government-backed digital infrastructure, while keeping implementation under close regulatory oversight.

🚨JUST IN: 🇰🇷South Korea plans a Blockchain pilot for tokenised gov bonds linked to its CBDC project. pic.twitter.com/KSqdo2tIA8

— Bitinning (@bitinning) July 14, 2026