bloomingbit

Web3 projects increasingly scrap TGEs and shut down services
User frustration grows as expected airdrop rewards fail to materialize
"Projects now need real business viability, not just token-launch hype"
A growing number of Web3 projects are abandoning token generation events, or TGEs, following Ethereum layer-2 network Abstract, bringing renewed scrutiny to the sustainability of business models built around token rewards.
Abstract, developed by Igloo, the parent company of NFT project Pudgy Penguins, recently announced it will shut down on Dec. 15, citing stalled chain growth and a lack of liquidity and profitability.
Abstract said its growth was constrained by a limited DeFi ecosystem, weak liquidity and muted institutional investment. After spending the past year exploring ways to expand the business, it concluded that sustainable operations as an independent blockchain would be difficult and decided to wind down the chain in phases.
Abstract launched its mainnet in January 2025 and had originally planned a TGE in the fourth quarter of that year, before later postponing it indefinitely. It ultimately decided to terminate the service without issuing a token, disappointing users who had committed time and money in anticipation of rewards.
Web3 projects abandoning TGEs
Around the same time, other Web3 projects also announced plans to scrap token launches or shut down services. On Oct. 15, decentralized trading platform StandX said it was withdrawing plans to issue its own token.
As recently as last month, the team had told users asking about the TGE schedule that it was not delaying the launch and was focused on rolling out its "SIP5" product. It eventually abandoned the token plan. StandX now intends to distribute the stablecoin DUSD instead of a native token and shut down the business. Users responded positively to the DUSD distribution decision, but also expressed disappointment that they would not receive the token they had expected.
AI-based financial intelligence platform Edgen also shut down on Oct. 12 without holding a TGE. Refund problems surfaced in the process. Edgen accepted refund requests through Oct. 12, the day the service ended, but some users later complained that they were unable to check refund guidance after the project's official X account was shut down shortly afterward.
One user wrote on X that they had not been aware of Edgen's refund notice and that the project's official account had also disappeared. The user said they had purchased Edgen's pro package and now faced losing the full $300. Edgen had also participated in Kaito's leaderboard, which rewards social-media activity related to digital assets. Refund complaints have continued, particularly from users who purchased VIP and annual subscription packages to boost their ranking on the leaderboard.
"Users put in time and money" as limits of Web3 business models come under scrutiny
At the center of the controversy is the airdrop model many early-stage Web3 projects use to attract users. Under that approach, tokens are distributed for free to help activate an ecosystem. Users pursue those rewards by depositing assets, joining testnets and checking in regularly in what is commonly known as airdrop farming.
That process can take considerable time, and in some cases also requires users to pay costs such as gas fees.
The problem is that token issuance or rewards are not always guaranteed. When a project is discontinued, users often struggle to recover the time and money they invested. Retail investor A said the structure itself was flawed because it drew users with the expectation of making money rather than the competitiveness of the service.
Critics also say risk disclosure is inadequate. Retail investor B said projects often attract users with flashy marketing while failing to sufficiently communicate the possibility of a shutdown or the risks involved.
Byun Chang-ho, who runs the Telegram community "Byun Chang-ho Coin Academy," said regulatory and market standards are changing. He added that the industry now needs projects with real business viability rather than ones sustained by expectations of a token launch.

"AI Agents to Spread Across Finance"
"Financial Infrastructure Must Evolve in Step"
"South Korea Has Strong Competitiveness"
The era of artificial intelligence agents carrying out payments and investments on behalf of people is poised to begin in earnest, according to Cho Jae-bak, vice president of Naver Pay.
Speaking at the Financial Clearing Institute's 40th-anniversary Payment Insight Seminar at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on October 23, Cho said users have traditionally logged into financial apps themselves to make transactions, but AI agents will increasingly do so instead. He added that the future customers of financial institutions, Naver Pay and the Financial Clearing Institute will be AI agents.
Cho cited investing through AI agents as a representative example. Large language model-based investment applications are already spreading overseas, and their advantage is that individuals can tailor investments more flexibly to their own preferences.
He also said AI agents will bring major changes to payments. In the future, AI agents will compare prices and product quality on behalf of consumers and complete purchases on the best available terms.
Cho said financial infrastructure must also evolve to match that shift. Systems will be needed to prevent problems that could arise when AI agents execute transactions.
Even if users delegate financial transactions to AI agents, the industry will need to determine how to manage transaction limits and how to verify whether an agent has actually been granted authority, he said. Building secure infrastructure that AI agents can use safely and reliably will be critical.
Cho also gave South Korea high marks for competitiveness in the AI agent era.
South Korea already has stronger financial infrastructure than many overseas markets in areas such as open banking, MyData, and financial product comparison and recommendation services, he said. While the country has yet to commercialize AI agent-based financial transactions, he said it could build one of the world's strongest infrastructures as the market expands.
Naver Pay is also focusing on building financial infrastructure for AI agents.
Cho said Naver Pay is preparing for an era in which agents will be able to check users' financial assets, search for needed products and services, make reservations, and complete payments. To that end, the company is currently conducting a proof of concept, or PoC, for an AI agent-based payment service with the Financial Clearing Institute.

The Bank of Korea is moving to require regular reports on the domestic crypto holdings of users with a history of transferring virtual assets overseas.
According to a foreign-exchange reporting manual for virtual-asset transfer operators obtained by Rep. Park Soo-young of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee on October 23, the BOK is preparing a system to receive daily transfer records and monthly balance data from exchanges. The manual was delivered to the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance, or DAXA, on October 2.
The key issue is that the system would collect not only records of overseas transfers but also balances of virtual assets still held in South Korea. Monthly balance reports submitted by exchanges would include users’ personal information and their holdings.
More than 1.27 million users would be affected. According to Park, a total of 1,272,878 customers at South Korea’s five major exchanges used cross-border cryptocurrency transfer services between July 19, 2024, and September 30, 2026.
The daily reports would include more detailed transaction data. Exchanges must submit records of cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals processed that day to the BOK by 11 a.m. the following day. Reportable items include information on senders and recipients, transaction records and resident registration numbers.
The reporting framework is being prepared ahead of the revised Foreign Exchange Transactions Act taking effect on December 3. The government plans to collect cryptocurrency transfer data at the BOK, the country’s foreign-exchange information hub, and share it with the National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU, for use in investigations into illegal foreign-exchange transactions.
Park said collecting personal information and information on domestic asset holdings simply because a user made an overseas transfer once would make the scope of data collection excessively broad. He added that requiring sweeping data reporting ahead of crypto taxation could further damp the market.

The Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute said artificial intelligence and digital assets will drive a new wave of change in the financial industry, pledging to build the infrastructure to support that shift.
Chae Byung-deuk, president of the KFTC, made the remarks on Oct. 23 at the institute’s 40th anniversary seminar, "2026 Payment Insight," held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul.
"The shift from openness and connectivity to artificial intelligence and digital assets will have a major impact not only on the competitiveness of the financial industry, but also on the public’s financial lives," Chae said.
"Over the past 40 years, the KFTC has built payment and settlement infrastructure that anyone can use safely and conveniently," he said. "We will continue to work to foster a safe and reliable digital finance ecosystem going forward."
Ryu Hyuk-sun, chairman of the Korean Society of Payment and Settlement, also delivered congratulatory remarks at the event. He said digital technology has so far improved the efficiency and accessibility of financial transactions, but innovation is now expanding to financial service providers, decision-making systems, value transfer and payment methods.
He added that AI is moving beyond information analysis and operational support, with its potential broadening to task execution through AI agents. New digital payment methods based on stablecoins and tokenization are also presenting new possibilities for the development of payment infrastructure.
Ryu stressed that the spread of new technologies will also require risk management. Issues surrounding authority and responsibility in the use of AI agents, along with payment stability and broader financial stability as new digital payment methods spread, will be key tasks going forward, he said.

More than $600 million flowed out of US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in a single day, with BlackRock and Fidelity products accounting for the bulk of the withdrawals.
Data from SoSoValue on Oct. 22 showed daily net outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs totaled $635.49 million. BlackRock's IBIT posted the largest outflow at $254.05 million, followed by Fidelity's FBTC at $217.46 million. Combined, the two funds accounted for about 74% of the total.
ARK Invest and 21Shares' ARKB saw $109.43 million in outflows. Grayscale's GBTC and Bitwise's BITB also recorded net outflows of $29.53 million and $27.35 million, respectively.
By contrast, Morgan Stanley's MSBT was the only fund to post net inflows, taking in $2.33 million. The remaining six products, including Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) and VanEck's HODL, recorded no net flows.
As of that day, cumulative net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs stood at $57.32 billion. By product, IBIT has attracted cumulative net inflows of $66.24 billion, while GBTC's cumulative net outflows reached $28 billion.

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix Fall Together
Index Hovers Around 5,300 Amid Foreign Selling
Sentiment Cools Even After Solidigm Listing Review Halt
The KOSPI fell more than 4% early on October 23, briefly sliding to the 5,300 level. Concerns over the cost burden of AI investment in the US spilled over into South Korean semiconductor stocks. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both declined, dragging the index lower.
As of 9:25 a.m., the KOSPI was down 184.93 points, or 3.34%, at 5,348.84 from the previous session. The index opened at 5,403.17 and fell as low as 5,305.98 during the session, widening its loss to 4.12% before trimming part of the decline. After dropping 3.52% a day earlier, it was headed for a second straight session of sharp losses.
Large-cap chip stocks led the weakness. At that time, Samsung Electronics was trading at 205,500 won, down 9,000 won, or 4.20%, while SK Hynix fell 37,000 won, or 3.03%, to 1.186 million won. On the benchmark stock market, foreign investors were net sellers, while retail and institutional investors absorbed the selling.
On Wall Street overnight, doubts about the profitability of the AI investment race triggered a selloff in technology shares. On October 22, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.60%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 6.7%. Nvidia, Intel and AMD were among the major chip stocks hit by heavy selling.
Meta's earnings heightened the anxiety. Third-quarter revenue rose 26% from a year earlier, but free cash flow swung to a deficit of $2.12 billion. After the company raised the low end of its projected capital expenditures for this year, investors focused less on revenue growth and more on cash burn and the burden of additional funding.
The concern appears to be spreading that if AI infrastructure companies have less capacity to invest, orders for servers and semiconductors could also be affected. In a high-rate environment, securing the funds needed to expand data centers and generating returns on that investment has emerged as a key variable for the broader chip sector.
SK Hynix said on October 23 it would halt its review of pre-IPO fundraising and an initial public offering for Solidigm, but the stock remained under pressure. The company said the decision reflected capital-market conditions and other factors. Even though the move reduced concerns about shareholder-value dilution from a duplicate listing, the sharp drop in US AI and semiconductor shares continued to weigh on sentiment.

Down 2.37% in premarket to 1.194 million won
Investor sentiment hit by plunge in U.S. chip stocks
SK Hynix halted its review of a U.S. listing for Solidigm, but the move failed to trigger a rebound in the shares. Even as it eased concerns that a duplicate listing could undermine shareholder value, anxiety over U.S.-led artificial intelligence investment weighed on buying appetite.
As of 8:10 a.m. on Oct. 23, SK Hynix was trading at 1.194 million won on Nextrade's premarket session, down 2.37% from the previous day. The stock had already fallen 5.49% in the regular session on Oct. 22 and extended its weakness in pre-open trading.
The pressure appeared to stem from an overnight selloff in AI-related stocks in the U.S. market. On Oct. 22, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.60% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped 6.7%. Doubts over whether the vast sums being invested in AI infrastructure can generate sufficient returns spread across the semiconductor sector.
Meta's earnings heightened those concerns. Third-quarter revenue rose 26% from a year earlier, but free cash flow posted a deficit of $2.12 billion. The company also raised the lower end of its capital expenditure forecast for this year. Investors focused less on revenue growth than on rising investment costs and the speed of cash burn.
Wariness also surfaced in credit markets. Meta's five-year credit default swap premium rose to 114.79 basis points, the highest level on record. A CDS is a type of insurance against default, and a higher premium means the cost of bearing credit risk has increased.
Against that backdrop, SK Hynix said in a filing before the market opened on Oct. 23 that it was halting its review of a pre-IPO fundraising round and an initial public offering for Solidigm, its U.S. indirect subsidiary. The company said it had considered various financing options to expand production capacity and strengthen competitiveness, but made the decision after taking capital-market conditions into account.
Solidigm's possible listing had drawn pushback from existing SK Hynix shareholders, who said it could damage their interests. The concern was that a separate listing for an affiliate handling a core business could depress the parent company's valuation and require it to share profits with outside investors.
Financial authorities in South Korea had also called for shareholder protection. Kim Byoung-hwan, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said at a comprehensive parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on Oct. 22 that Solidigm's overseas listing would also be subject to duplicate-listing guidelines. Lee Bok-hyun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, took the same position at a parliamentary audit on Oct. 19.
Solidigm was launched after SK Hynix acquired Intel's NAND flash and solid-state drive businesses in 2021. SK Hynix currently owns 100% of the company through its U.S. intermediate holding company, AI Company.
Separately from halting the listing review, SK Hynix said it still stands by its view on Solidigm's growth potential and the need for additional investment. The company maintains that new production facilities in the U.S. are needed to meet demand for AI memory. It plans to reconsider funding options while continuing to expand its production base.

Selling Spreads on Concerns Over AI Spending
Meta Drops 7%; Semiconductor Index Sinks 6.7%
US 10-Year Treasury Yield Falls Below 5%
Anxiety over artificial intelligence spending swept through U.S. technology stocks. Questions over how companies will finance massive outlays on data centers and semiconductors, and when those investments will generate returns, triggered a broad selloff. The Nasdaq posted its biggest decline since June.
On October 22, the Nasdaq Composite closed down 694.00 points, or 2.60%, at 26,008.86 in New York. The S&P 500 fell 93.74 points, or 1.21%, to 7,663.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, by contrast, edged up 11.89 points, or 0.02%, to 52,867.98.
Meta was at the center of the selloff. Revenue beat market expectations, but net income missed estimates. Concern over the burden of AI investment also came into sharper focus, sending the stock down about 7%. Investors reacted more to the effect of higher spending on cash flow than to topline growth.
Meta raised its capital expenditure outlook for this year to $135 billion to $145 billion, from a previous range of $130 billion to $145 billion. Third-quarter free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion, reversing from a positive $10.63 billion a year earlier. The company also announced plans to introduce a new class of non-voting shares to help fund AI investment.
That added to concern that the cost of the AI spending race could spread beyond borrowing and into the equity market. If high interest rates make it harder for companies to take on more debt, they may turn to share issuance instead. That would dilute the value of existing shareholders' stakes. Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, said the selling reflected a growing view that it could take longer than expected to recoup those investments.
Semiconductor and AI infrastructure companies also fell on those concerns. Nvidia dropped 4.4%, while CoreWeave tumbled 10.1%. SpaceX also traded lower. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 6.7%, while Intel, AMD, Sandisk and Marvell Technology each fell more than 8%.
Comments from Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang also underscored the funding issue. Huang said demand from AI-focused cloud providers known as neoclouds remains very strong. But they lack sufficient operating capital to support growth. Even if customer orders rise, expansion could be constrained if companies cannot secure the upfront funding needed to build servers and data centers.
Money leaving technology stocks flowed into the relative safety of U.S. Treasuries. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell to 4.97% on October 22 from 5.13% a day earlier. Strong demand for bonds pushed prices higher and yields lower. The move showed investors shifting toward safe-haven assets as they weighed profitability and financial strain more closely after piling into the AI growth trade.

Kospi whipsaws despite hopes for stronger chip earnings
Forward P/Es around 3 point to undervaluation
Memory profitability, easing inflation fears are key
South Korea’s stock market is struggling to sustain a rebound even as brokerages argue that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are undervalued. Hopes for rising semiconductor earnings have at times lifted the shares, only for concerns over interest rates and artificial intelligence spending to weigh on them again. The market needs more than the view that the stocks have fallen too far; investors want evidence that future profitability will hold up.
According to the Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed at 5,533.77 on Oct. 22, down 3.52%. Samsung Electronics fell 4.03% to 214,500 won, while SK Hynix dropped 5.49% to 1.223 million won. That contrasted with the previous session, when the two stocks had risen 5.67% and 5.81%, respectively, helping drive the index higher.
The Kospi changed direction on each trading day this week. It rose 1.76% on Oct. 19, then fell 3.73% on Oct. 20. It gained 3.29% on Oct. 21 before declining again. The index repeatedly swung higher and lower alongside heavyweight chip stocks, highlighting fragile investor sentiment.
The market is grappling with two main questions: whether high profit levels in memory chips can be sustained, and when inflation pressure will ease enough to reduce the burden of tighter policy. Lee Eun-taek, an analyst at KB Securities, said a stock recovery would need at least one of those concerns to subside.
Brokerages see room for a rebound because of the gap between earnings and share prices. Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities, said Samsung Electronics is trading at 3.3 times projected 2027 earnings and SK Hynix at 2.7 times. He expects demand for AI semiconductors to outstrip supply through 2028, and said worries over the financial burden facing AI cloud companies such as CoreWeave have been reflected too heavily in share prices. He added that a W-shaped rebound is likely to begin in November and December as the unusual disconnect between earnings and valuations narrows.
Still, a low price-to-earnings ratio supports a buying case only if confidence in earnings forecasts holds. Even if share prices stay unchanged, lower profit estimates would push the multiple higher. That is why year-end long-term agreement, or LTA, contracts and next year’s pricing talks for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, are important. Securing sales volumes and prices in advance would reduce earnings volatility for chipmakers.
Ha Jang-kwon, an analyst at Hanwha Investment & Securities, said investors should pay attention to semiconductors and IT hardware from the fourth quarter of this year through the first quarter of next year. He projected a Kospi target of 8,500 for next year, with an expected range of 6,000 to 9,300.
Domestic monetary policy also remains tilted toward tightening. The Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.00% on Oct. 22, while explicitly referring to the timing and pace of additional hikes in its policy guidance. The central bank held rates steady this time to assess the impact of increases in July and August, but it has not let up its guard on inflation. The view is that a rebound must be backed by both improving chip earnings and easing price pressures if it is to last longer than a day.

Public backlash grows over dual-listing concerns
Capital-market conditions and a weak domestic stock market also weighed
SK Hynix has decided to withdraw the planned Nasdaq initial public offering of its indirect subsidiary Solidigm. The move appears to reflect a broad review of intensifying shareholder backlash, capital-market conditions and the company’s stock-price performance after news of the listing plan emerged.
According to industry officials on October 22, SK Hynix has concluded it will scrap Solidigm’s U.S. listing and plans to announce the decision formally soon. Work on a pre-IPO share sale tied to the listing has also been halted.
Strong opposition from SK Hynix shareholders and weakness in the stock are seen as decisive factors behind the reversal. Shareholders had worried that listing Solidigm separately would trigger a dual-listing discount and erode SK Hynix’s corporate value. They also opposed the plan because any new share issuance would dilute existing holdings and shift Solidigm’s net income and future profits away from SK Hynix shareholders to new investors.
Solidigm carries significant weight within the group. It accounts for 12.9% of SK Hynix’s total corporate value. AI Company, its parent company, posted net profit of 5.84 trillion won ($4.21 billion) in the first half of this year, equal to 4.3% of SK Hynix’s total, while its revenue contribution was 9.3%, close to 10%.
Solidigm was created after SK Hynix acquired Intel’s NAND flash business in 2021. AI Company, a U.S. intermediate holding company, owns 100% of the stake. Earlier this year, SK Hynix set up AI Company in January, placed a new Solidigm entity under it as part of a governance restructuring, and injected as much as $10 billion in capital.
With SK Hynix deciding to formally withdraw the Solidigm listing plan after accepting shareholder sentiment, market controversy over equity-value dilution and damage to shareholder value is expected to ease for now.
Kim Chae-yeon, Hankyung.com reporter why29@hankyung.com
Roh Yoo-jung, Hankyung.com reporter yjroh@hankyung.com

The US blockchain industry is urging Congress to overhaul tax rules for cryptocurrencies.
BlockBeats and other outlets reported on October 22 that the Blockchain Association recently sent a letter to House and Senate leaders calling for crypto tax legislation.
About 67 million Americans own and use digital assets, but the current tax code does not reflect changes in the market, the group wrote. The existing framework is creating uncertainty for taxpayers and imposing excessive reporting burdens, it said, encouraging innovation to move overseas.
The association's proposed tax changes include an effective tax exemption for small transactions and a reporting system aimed at protecting taxpayer privacy. It also proposed treating mining and staking rewards as newly created property and taxing them when they are disposed of, rather than when they are received.
The group also said taxes should be based on economic substance rather than technical form. In particular, it said wash-sale rules for digital assets should be designed so they do not disadvantage everyday crypto use. A wash sale prevents taxpayers from using a loss for a tax deduction if they repurchase a substantially identical asset within 30 days before or after selling it at a loss.

Visa is seeking to acquire crypto custody infrastructure firm Fireblocks.
Axios reported on October 22, citing sources, that Visa is in acquisition talks with Fireblocks. One source told Axios the negotiations are in their final stages.
Fireblocks is being discussed at a valuation of about $2.5 billion.
If the deal is completed, Visa would accelerate its expansion in crypto. The company has been actively broadening its crypto-related services, including through a recent partnership with crypto financial infrastructure firm Mesh to expand stablecoin payment capabilities.

Andreessen Horowitz, the global venture capital firm known as a16z, is moving to drop “Crypto” from the name of its flagship digital-asset fund.
The Information, a U.S. technology news outlet, reported on October 22 that a16z recently decided to rename “a16z Crypto” as “a16z Frontier.” The move is intended to expand the fund’s investment focus beyond cryptocurrencies into a broader range of advanced technologies.
Ali Yahya, a general partner and founding member of a16z Crypto, is also leaving the firm. He is planning to launch his own startup.
a16z Crypto has raised $10 billion across five funds to date.

Kim Byoung-hwan, chairman of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, said on October 22 that he agrees with the idea of allowing virtual asset exchanges to enter the tokenized securities, or STO, market.
Kim made the remarks during a comprehensive parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee on October 22, after Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Kang-il said authorities should review a plan to allow virtual asset exchanges to trade tokenized securities. Kim said he agrees with the intent.
He added that regulators would review options including integrating licensing categories or allowing concurrent operations, while taking into account market conditions and trends in investor protection.
Lee has argued that policymakers should consider using the technology and infrastructure already built by existing virtual asset exchanges as South Korea institutionalizes tokenized securities. The U.S. is moving toward allowing a range of trading platforms to enter the market under existing securities rules, Lee said.
There is no valid reason to restrict access to the tokenized securities market based on the type of exchange, he added.

Unanimous decision to hold at 3.0%
"Monetary tightening stance will continue"
Shin says pause is the fruit of earlier moves
Will respond after checking October inflation
Growth seen topping 3% for a second straight year
The Bank of Korea held its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.0% on Oct. 22 in a unanimous decision. Even so, markets are increasingly betting the BOK will resume rate hikes in November, with growth and inflation proving stronger than expected.
Assessing the impact of preemptive hikes
At a press briefing, BOK Governor Hyun Song Shin described the decision to hold rates as “the fruit of hoeing.” The remark meant the central bank had secured room to manage policy in line with domestic economic conditions after its unusual back-to-back rate increases in July and August. At the time of the August hike, Shin had cited a Korean proverb to stress the need for preemptive action.
Shin said the BOK needed to monitor external uncertainties, including the conflict in the Middle East, monetary and fiscal policy in major economies, and possible policy changes after the U.S. midterm elections. He added that it would not be too late to respond after reviewing third- and fourth-quarter growth and October inflation data. The bank also needs to examine how earlier rate increases are affecting growth and prices.
Still, Shin reiterated that the central bank would maintain its tightening bias in light of solid growth and rising prices. In its monetary policy statement, the BOK said this year’s and next year’s growth rates would come in well above its August forecasts of 3.3% and 2.9%, respectively. When the BOK has used the phrase “well above” in the past, the actual revision has typically been about 0.3 to 0.4 percentage point. That suggests the economy is increasingly likely to post growth above 3% for a second straight year for the first time since 2017-2018.
The BOK also said next year’s inflation is likely to exceed its August forecast. In August, the central bank projected next year’s consumer inflation and core inflation at 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively. Shin said growth and inflation were in some respects stronger now than in August, when the BOK delivered consecutive rate hikes, underscoring the need to maintain the current tightening stance.
Private consumption recovery seen broadening
Markets expect the BOK to resume rate hikes in November. In its economic assessment released on Oct. 22, the central bank said third-quarter growth would remain strong following the first half. On private consumption, it said the recovery would gradually broaden, citing bonuses and dividend payouts at major companies, fiscal spending and a decline in the won-dollar exchange rate.
Choi Ji-wook, a managing director at State Street Markets, said the BOK would likely raise rates in November while lifting its forecasts for next year’s consumer inflation and core inflation by about 0.1 percentage point. He added that third-quarter growth would probably come in in the upper 0% range from the previous quarter.
The yield on South Korea’s three-year government bond rose 0.018 percentage point to 3.840% on Oct. 22 from 3.822% in the previous session. As of 3:30 p.m., the won was trading at 1,324.2 per dollar, up 1 won from the prior session.
Shim Seong-mi, Hankyung.com reporter smshim@hankyung.com

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon reiterated that South Korea should delay its planned taxation of virtual assets, which is set to take effect next year.
In a Facebook post on October 22, Han said a decision to postpone the tax should be made without delay. He wrote that Vice Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said at a parliamentary audit earlier that day that the government would “make a decision after as much deliberation as possible” on virtual-asset taxation. Han added that if the issue is fully deliberated, he believes the conclusion will be a postponement.
Han said circumstances have changed significantly since the virtual-asset tax framework was first designed in 2020. The current plan taxes gains from the “transfer or lending” of virtual assets as “other income,” but he argued that framework cannot handle a complex ecosystem that continues to evolve, including transfers between exchanges, cold-wallet storage, staking rewards and airdrops.
That is why income related to virtual assets should not be taxed as “other income,” Han wrote. Instead, he said, South Korea should first determine coin types and the nature of each type of income through what he called “second-stage virtual asset legislation,” while putting in place an environment in which investors are properly protected.
He also said taxing only virtual assets would create a serious fairness problem now that the financial investment income tax, which had been intended to tax income from stocks and bonds, has been abolished. Such a system, he said, would unfairly burden investors by taxing annual gains while offering no way to offset losses and remaining vulnerable to tax avoidance through gifts.
Han said pushing ahead with the tax would make it impossible to prevent a “stock-market exodus” in the coin market. He added that a small number of taxpayers does not make an unfair tax acceptable. Investors would move overseas or into cold wallets, he wrote, and the estimated number of taxpayers based on pre-taxation data could fall to zero once the tax is actually imposed.

Kim Byoung-hwan, chairman of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, said SK Hynix’s push to list its US subsidiary Solidigm would fall under the country’s dual-listing rules.
Testifying at the National Assembly Political Affairs Committee’s comprehensive audit on Oct. 22, Kim said Solidigm’s proposed listing is subject to the dual-listing guidelines. He added that SK Square and SK Hynix, as parent companies, must fulfill five obligations based on their duty to protect shareholder interests.
Under current rules, a parent company pursuing a dual listing must complete five steps: assess the impact on shareholders, prepare measures to protect them, communicate with shareholders, obtain a board resolution for or against the plan, and make disclosures. Under dual-listing rules set by the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Exchange, those procedures are required when a company seeks an exception to a dual listing that is, in principle, prohibited.
Kim also addressed whether the rules apply to overseas listings. In a question-and-answer exchange with Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Kang-il, he said the dual-listing guidelines apply to both overseas and domestic listings.
He did not give a definitive answer on whether a securities registration statement would need to be filed in South Korea. There has been no official announcement or specific details on a listing plan yet, he said.
Solidigm originated from SK Hynix’s 2021 acquisition of Intel’s NAND flash and solid-state drive businesses. In the ownership structure, AI Company sits above Solidigm, followed by SK Hynix, SK Square and SK Inc.

U.S. spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded more than $500 million in net inflows in a single day.
Trader T data for October 21 showed combined net inflows into U.S. spot-Bitcoin ETFs totaled $528.41 million. BlackRock's IBIT brought in $235 million and Fidelity's FBTC attracted $212.71 million, accounting for about 85% of the total.
Grayscale's GBTC and Bitcoin Mini Trust posted net inflows of $32.59 million and $8.21 million, respectively. Bitwise's BITB recorded $19.23 million of net inflows, Ark Invest's ARKB took in $9.79 million, Franklin Templeton's EZBC added $7.31 million and Valkyrie's BRRR saw $3.57 million of net inflows. The remaining products recorded no net inflows or outflows.
Month-to-date net inflows came to $463.3 million, while year-to-date net inflows totaled $1.39 billion.

Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Byoung-hwan said consultations on the government’s draft Digital Asset Framework Act are in their final stages. He also said the Ministry of Economy and Finance is gathering opinions on virtual-asset, or cryptocurrency, taxation scheduled to take effect next year.
Kim made the remarks on Oct. 22 during a National Assembly audit by the Political Affairs Committee. “Legislation related to digital assets is in the final stage of consultations, and we will do our best to have it introduced as quickly as possible,” he said.
During the hearing, lawmakers raised concerns that taxation could be implemented before an industry regulatory framework is in place. Song Eon-seok, a lawmaker from the ruling People Power Party, said the government told the president in a July policy briefing that it would prepare the bill within the year, but has yet to present its draft.
Song said the government would be imposing taxes before legally clarifying what kind of product digital assets are. He argued that the tax should either be abolished or its implementation postponed until the bill is prepared.
Kim did not present a separate position on the timing of the tax. He said there were a variety of views on the issue and that the Ministry of Economy and Finance was collecting opinions.

The South Korean government is continuing to gather opinions as it decides whether to proceed with taxation of virtual assets, or cryptocurrencies, now scheduled for January next year. The National Tax Service plans to finalize a related administrative notice by the end of October, but the government has not yet determined whether to grant an additional delay.
Lee Hyoung-il, deputy prime minister and finance minister, told the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee during a comprehensive parliamentary audit on Oct. 22 that the government would make its decision after carefully considering views from the industry, experts and lawmakers.
Questions about the government’s readiness for the tax continued during the audit. Yoon Hu-deok, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said the government had repeated the same promise to prepare each time the measure was postponed. Virtual-asset taxation was approved in 2020 and has since been delayed three times. It is now scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
The government recently reviewed market changes and tax conditions at a meeting with industry participants. Kwon Dae-young, first vice finance minister, met industry officials and experts on Oct. 20 and said the system had originally been built around spot trading when the framework was introduced in 2020, but related technology has advanced significantly since then. Lee added that he had already said the government would hear more from experts and the industry before making a decision, and that the meeting was part of that process.
The draft notice needed for tax administration has not yet been finalized. Cho Seung-rae, chair of the committee, said he had received materials from the government on its preparations and the notice, and that the government reported it planned to finalize the measure by the end of October.
The ruling party leadership wants a conclusion this year. Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party, said on the party’s YouTube program “Minti 07” on Oct. 22 that the issue should be settled this year. He said he had also proposed to Lee on Oct. 21 that the government conduct a final review and reach a conclusion, adding that it was time to begin discussions on whether to proceed with the tax as scheduled or revise the system.