bloomingbit

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.

Shin Hyun-song, governor of the Bank of Korea, said the central bank’s previous two rate increases gave policymakers room to assess additional economic indicators. He also said a decline in the exchange rate can boost the purchasing power of low-income households.
Speaking after the Monetary Policy Board left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.00% on Oct. 22, Shin said back-to-back rate hikes in July and August had given the central bank greater flexibility to run policy in line with domestic economic conditions.
He described the hold decision as “the fruit after hoeing.” The comment followed his explanation in August that the central bank had acted with a hoe to stop what might otherwise have required a shovel, underscoring that the preemptive move had bought time to watch additional data.
Still, he said upside risks to growth and inflation had risen from the previous forecast.
“Compared with the August outlook, upside risks to growth and inflation appear to have grown,” Shin said. “But I did not think it would be too late to make a judgment after checking additional data, including third-quarter real gross domestic product and October inflation trends.”
Shin also commented on the impact of exchange-rate moves on households, saying a 10% decline in the exchange rate raises the purchasing power of households in the first income quintile by more than 0.4%. The first income quintile refers to the bottom 20% of households ranked by income.

A security vulnerability in PHP, the programming language used to build websites, has raised the risk that external attackers could remotely take control of servers. Governments in several countries temporarily suspended some web services to apply patches and conduct inspections, while cryptocurrency companies checked whether they were exposed.
Cointelegraph reported on October 22 that the PHP Foundation disclosed why its response was delayed even after distributing an emergency patch. The foundation said patching work was repeatedly halted for months because of the security team's decision-making process and limited resources. It described the delay as a structural failure.
The vulnerability involved two flaws that could allow unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code on servers. The foundation said it detected related signs in 2024, but a fix was delayed as it considered the impact on the existing PHP ecosystem. The response became a higher priority in August after security firm Calypso and OpenAI separately reported the vulnerabilities and demonstrated that real attacks were possible.
The government service suspensions were carried out as a precaution, not because attacks had been confirmed. The Netherlands' digital identity service and National Cyber Security Centre website, as well as Finland's public government web services, were temporarily taken offline. France and Germany also suspended some government websites.
In the cryptocurrency industry, Coinbase and BitGo disclosed the results of their reviews. Coinbase Chief Security Officer Jeff Lunglhofer said the company conducted a full inspection as soon as it learned of the flaw and found no exposed PHP instances. BitGo also said its platform was unaffected.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao said some websites may still not have applied the patch and urged users to be cautious when visiting websites over the next few days. The PHP security team said no real-world exploitation had been confirmed by the time of disclosure.

The Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.00%, pausing after back-to-back increases in July and August. Market attention is now turning to whether the central bank will deliver another hike next month.
The BOK’s Monetary Policy Board left the rate unchanged at its monetary policy meeting on Oct. 22. The central bank resumed rate increases in July and raised rates again in August, but opted to hold at the current level this time.
Inflation remains above target. Consumer prices rose 2.9% in September, higher than the BOK’s 2% inflation target. With oil prices staying elevated because of the war in the Middle East, inflation is forecast to remain near 3% this month as well.
Exports and the growth trend will also factor into future rate decisions. South Korea’s current-account surplus for January through August totaled $27.92 billion, about four times the level a year earlier. In August, the BOK raised its 2026 growth forecast to 3.3% from 2.6%. Rising home prices in parts of the Seoul metropolitan area and a renewed increase in household lending at major banks this month are also being watched from a financial-stability standpoint.
At the same time, a stronger won and heavier interest burdens are seen as reasons for caution on further tightening. The won traded as strong as 1,322.8 per dollar during the previous session. The BOK estimates that a 0.25 percentage-point increase in the benchmark rate would raise interest costs by about $2.39 billion for households and $2.61 billion for companies.
The Monetary Policy Board’s final meeting of the year will be held on Nov. 26. Before then, an advance reading of third-quarter real gross domestic product will be released on Oct. 27, followed by October consumer-price data on Nov. 2. BOK Governor Shin Hyun-song is scheduled to explain the background to the rate decision and the policy outlook at a press briefing at 11:10 a.m. on Oct. 22.

Strong results from SpaceX sparked a rebound in AI-related stocks. But funding pressure from heavy investment remained in focus after Meta posted its first negative free cash flow since going public.
On October 21, the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.05%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.58% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.69%. Nvidia climbed 2.54%, AMD rose 3.36%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rebounded 1.97%.
SpaceX jumped 7.79% a day after reporting third-quarter revenue of $14.6 billion and net income of $4.4 billion. AI-related revenue surged 830% from a year earlier to $7.6 billion. Super Micro Computer also soared 9.55% after raising its July-September revenue forecast to $18.5 billion-$19.5 billion from $14.5 billion-$15.5 billion.
Meta, which released earnings after the close, reported revenue of $64.4 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $3.83, both above market expectations. Free cash flow, however, came in at negative $2.1 billion, its first deficit since the company went public. Meta also raised the low end of its annual capital expenditure forecast to $135 billion from $130 billion.
CoreWeave, which has faced funding concerns, gave up earlier gains and fell 0.50%. Bank of America estimated capital expenditure needed for SpaceX's plan to expand computing capacity next year could total $400 billion to $800 billion.
"Investors want to see the payoff, and SpaceX's earnings release could be an early sign of that," Mark Hackett, a strategist at Nationwide, said.
Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, said marginal pricing could fall sharply once supply exceeds demand, warning of possible oversupply.

All six economists surveyed by Yonhap News expect the Bank of Korea to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.00%. The view is that policymakers will assess the impact of earlier increases rather than deliver a third straight hike after moves in July and August.
For the path after a pause, growth momentum and inflation pressures will both need to be taken into account. Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said on October 16 that this year’s real gross domestic product growth could reach as high as 3.6%. That is above the Bank of Korea’s August forecast of 3.3%. The current-account surplus for January through August also reached $279.2 billion, about four times the level recorded a year earlier.
Rising oil prices and household debt were also cited as factors that could support another rate increase. Brent crude came close to $112 a barrel during trading on October 20. Household loans at South Korea’s five biggest banks stood at 783.5983 trillion won as of October 15, up 2.7643 trillion won from the end of September. The balance fell by 1.2852 trillion won last month, but turned higher again this month.
The won strengthened against the dollar. It fell to 1,322.8 won per dollar during the previous session, the lowest intraday level since October 2, 2024, based on intraday lows. Dollar selling by exporters contributed to the move.
BOK Governor Shin Hyun-song is scheduled to hold a press briefing at about 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday to explain the background to the rate decision and the direction of future monetary policy.

U.S. stocks rose across the board after SpaceX turned profitable and an AI server maker raised its sales outlook. Buying in semiconductor and server shares helped push the Nasdaq Composite up more than 1%.
On Oct. 21, the Nasdaq Composite closed up 278.04 points, or 1.05%, at 26,702.86 in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 360.21 points, or 0.69%, to 52,856.09, while the S&P 500 rose 44.60 points, or 0.58%, to 7,757.17.
SpaceX jumped 7.79% a day after reporting its first profit since going public. Investors also focused on Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's remark that a merger with Tesla would be "a good idea." Tesla shares rose 3.41%.
AI server stocks also advanced. Super Micro Computer surged 9.55% after raising its preliminary revenue forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 to $18.5 billion-$19.5 billion from $14.5 billion-$15.5 billion. Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise climbed 5.27% and 3.71%, respectively.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.97%. AMD gained 3.36% and Nvidia added 2.54%, while SK Hynix and Micron Technology advanced 2.48% and 1.96%, respectively. TSMC and Broadcom also finished higher, up 1.60% and 1.03%, respectively.
CoreWeave, by contrast, fell 0.50% after swinging between gains and losses during the session. Netflix dropped 5.31% on disappointment over its third-quarter results. The company narrowed its full-year revenue forecast to $51.1 billion from a prior range of $51 billion-$51.4 billion. Alphabet and Amazon also fell 1.62% and 0.10%, respectively.
Oil prices were mixed. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery settled 0.68% lower at $97.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for December delivery rose 0.03% to $108.82 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe in London. Military tensions in the Middle East and hopes for renewed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine pulled in opposite directions.

Won-denominated stablecoins and preparations for virtual-asset taxation are emerging as major legislative priorities for South Korea’s National Assembly next month. Lawmakers must set the rules for companies to operate and establish the framework for investors to pay taxes, making debate over a Digital Asset Basic Act and tax policy a turning point for the domestic digital-asset market.
The National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee plans to begin reviewing the Digital Asset Basic Act at a bill-review subcommittee next month, with the goal of passing it within the year. A tax subcommittee under the committee handling fiscal and economic planning will also discuss the timing of virtual-asset taxation, which is scheduled to take effect in January. One track centers on market regulation and the other on taxes, but both address the broader task of bringing the market into the formal system.
The government is also emphasizing the link between the two issues. Kwon Dae-young, first vice minister of economy and finance, told a meeting of industry officials and experts on Oct. 20 that tax principles can take root in the market only if tax infrastructure and a market-regulation framework are put in place together. The comment suggests authorities see tools to track transactions and secure market trust as essential before taxes are imposed.
For won stablecoins, the central issue is an issuance structure that combines financial stability with private-sector business capacity. One option under discussion would require banks to hold at least 50% plus one share in a consortium, while fintech companies argue that non-bank firms also need room to participate. A key question is how to make use of technological capabilities and distribution networks as authorities define issuance eligibility and governance rules.
Shin Hyun-song, governor of the Bank of Korea, said at a parliamentary audit on Oct. 12 that he is “basically in favor” of private issuance. Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won said on Oct. 8 that authorities would move quickly in consultations to prepare how to guide the industry and the broader market. Abroad, KRWQ, a won-pegged token launched in October 2025, is already in circulation, underscoring the need to create an institutional path for domestic projects.
On taxation, the key issue is how fairly and accurately authorities can track domestic and overseas transactions. Limits on securing records of offshore trading and the absence of loss carryforward deductions are among the issues cited for improvement. Under the current timetable, starting next year, authorities would impose a 22% tax, including local taxes, on annual virtual-asset income above 2.5 million won ($1,800).
Lawmakers in both the ruling and opposition parties are continuing to push for an adjustment to the implementation schedule based on the state of preparations. Park Min-gyu of the Democratic Party proposed an amendment to delay taxation until 2029, citing the US timetable for joining the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, or CARF, for automatic information exchange. Park Soo-young of the People Power Party said on Oct. 21 that authorities should not “kick away the ladder” for young people trying to build wealth, adding that he would pursue bipartisan talks on a delay. The government has yet to set out a final position.
The Political Affairs Committee is expected to discuss issuers and business requirements for won stablecoins as part of its review of the basic law next month. The tax subcommittee under the fiscal and economic planning committee will examine proposals to adjust the start date for taxation. The detailed timetable for institutionalization will hinge on when the government submits its proposal and the outcome of talks between the two parties.

President Donald Trump said he plans to spend more than $400 million before next month's Nov. 3 midterm elections, ramping up rallies and advertising in battleground states as Republicans fight to hold their Senate majority.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Oct. 20 that more than $400 million would be spent by Election Day. Pro-Trump super PACs, including MAGA Inc., have already poured in more than $200 million since September, and about another $200 million remains, according to the article.
The Republican defensive strategy is focused on Senate battleground states. While Democrats are forecast to have the edge in the House, the Senate could be split 50-50 between the two parties. In that scenario, Republicans would retain control through the vice president's tie-breaking vote. If Democrats win 51 seats, they would take control of the Senate.
Trump is scheduled to visit Kansas, Iowa and Florida this week, followed by campaign stops in Georgia and Michigan next week. He also plans to return to Texas before the election. Ad spending is likewise being concentrated in other battlegrounds seen as more winnable than North Carolina.
Trump has also repeatedly pushed a cash-payment pledge aimed at voters. He promised to give $5,000 to every adult, though the proposal's feasibility has been questioned because the total cost would come to about $1.3 trillion. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also joining campaign events and announcing major investment plans.
In the poll cited in the article, Trump's job approval rating stood at 31%, down 1 percentage point from two weeks earlier. Voter preference by party was 47% for Democrats and 35% for Republicans. Still, those figures alone are not enough to determine the election outcome because details such as the polling firm and survey period were not provided.

Shares of SpaceX, the space company led by Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, surged in early trading.
SpaceX was trading around $165 on October 21, up about 12% from the previous session, according to TradingView. It marked the stock’s first gain of more than 10% in about two months, since August.
The rally followed third-quarter earnings and news that the company is reviewing a merger with Tesla. SpaceX said on October 20 that third-quarter net income came to $4.4 billion, more than double the market forecast of $1.88 billion.
On the same day’s earnings conference call, Musk said Tesla and SpaceX had each set up a special committee to review a merger.
Following the news, JPMorgan raised its price target on SpaceX to $500 from $240. It maintained its Overweight rating.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will assess the legality of stablecoin reward programs on a case-by-case basis.
CoinDesk reported on October 21 that the OCC released the final implementing rule for the GENIUS Act, the U.S. stablecoin law, that day. The rule will take effect on January 18, 2027.
The main issue is stablecoin rewards. The GENIUS Act prohibits issuers from paying customers interest or other returns solely for holding, using or maintaining payment stablecoins.
The OCC said it will apply the law based on the facts and specific circumstances of each reward program. Some rewards could be allowed if part of the payment is made for reasons other than those explicitly barred under the GENIUS Act. The agency did not provide specific examples of which reward structures would be permitted or prohibited.
The OCC also ruled out automatically treating existing reward programs as lawful. It said it would not presume that stablecoin reward programs in operation before the GENIUS Act was enacted comply with the law.
A provision in the draft rule that would have presumed some reward practices to be violations was removed from the final version. That means the OCC will review each program's operating model and payout structure individually rather than make blanket judgments on certain reward types.

SK Hynix has completed a $28.9 billion share buyback.
The company said on Oct. 21 that it had finished repurchasing $28.9 billion worth of its own shares on South Korea's Kospi market over the past two months.
SK Hynix had previously said it would spend about $28.9 billion to buy back 24.07 million shares and cancel all of them. The 24.07 million shares represent about 3.3% of its outstanding stock, making it one of the largest treasury-share cancellations by a listed South Korean company.
SK Hynix had originally disclosed a buyback period from Aug. 20 to Nov. 19. The repurchase was completed about a month ahead of schedule.
The company plans to announce additional shareholder return measures when it reports third-quarter earnings on Oct. 28.

Binance.US, the US arm of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, is seeking to enter the domestic prediction market.
The Financial Times reported on October 21 that Binance.US recently applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for authorization to offer prediction market services. The newspaper also reported that Blockchain.com, a UK crypto company, filed for the same approval last week.
Crypto firms have been accelerating their push into prediction markets. Bullish, a US cryptocurrency exchange, recently applied to the CFTC for approval to offer prediction market services. Coinbase partnered with Kalshi earlier this year.
The prediction market industry is growing rapidly. Combined monthly trading volume at Kalshi and Polymarket jumped more than fourfold to $72 billion in September from $17 billion in January, according to The Block. By contrast, spot cryptocurrency trading volume fell 18% over the same period.
"Retail-focused platforms are broadening their product offerings to retain existing customers and attract new ones," Patrick Moley, a senior research analyst at Piper Sandler, said. He added that offering other products helps companies weather the "crypto winter."

South Korea’s People Power Party plans to hold talks with the Democratic Party on delaying taxation of virtual assets, or cryptocurrencies, scheduled to take effect in January 2027.
Digital Asset reported on October 21 that Park Soo-young, deputy policy committee chair of the People Power Party, made the remarks to reporters after a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall in Seoul’s Yeouido district.
He was cautious about the chances of a bipartisan agreement. Although a bill to postpone the tax has also been proposed within the Democratic Party, the party has not yet adopted an official position. Park said it was still difficult to predict what conclusion would emerge from the bill review scheduled for November.
The People Power Party cited the state of preparedness of the tax system and fairness relative to other financial assets as the main issues. It argues that pushing ahead with taxation on crypto income after scrapping the financial investment income tax would be inequitable. The party also said a delay was needed because tax standards, revenue estimates and exchange systems related to the levy were not yet fully in place.
Park held the press conference with six young crypto investors who called for a postponement. He said the Democratic Party should also take their concerns into account and discuss securing additional time to refine the system, rather than enforcing the tax before institutional preparations are complete.
Cho Sang-hyuk, attending as a representative of the young investors, said they were not opposing taxation itself. He said institutional improvements should come first to ensure fair tax payments. Cho called for the start of the tax to be delayed by at least two years so the framework could be strengthened, including loss carryforwards, profit-and-loss offsetting and basic deductions.
With lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties having introduced bills to defer the crypto tax, the preparedness of the tax infrastructure and fairness among investors are set to be major issues in the upcoming legislative review process.

Bitcoin neared $83,000 as strong earnings from U.S. technology companies improved sentiment toward risk assets.
Bitcoin traded around $82,700 during Asian hours on October 21, up 1.3%, CoinDesk reported. Strong results from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer revived enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related investments, lifting both Asian equities and digital assets.
Among major cryptocurrencies, Zcash posted the biggest gain. It surged 11% to about $1,260 after the activation block height for its next network upgrade, NU7, was finalized. The upgrade will shorten block times to 25 seconds from 75 seconds, tripling transaction confirmation speed. It will also allocate 60% of transaction fees to reserves for phased distribution. The upgrade has been running on testnet since early October.
Other major cryptocurrencies also rose. Hyperliquid and Dogecoin each gained more than 3%, while XRP climbed about 3% to $1.33. Ether traded around $2,450, up 2%, while BNB and Solana added 1% to 2%.
Asian stocks also advanced, led by technology shares. South Korea's Kospi rose 3.7%, while Taiwan's Taiex gained 1.4%. SpaceX and Super Micro Computer climbed 8% and 16%, respectively, in after-hours trading, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1%. Australia-based data center developer NextDC, however, plunged 40% after lowering its earnings outlook.
Macro uncertainty remains. Brent crude climbed above $110 a barrel as concerns over supply disruptions grew after an attack on a vessel near the Strait of Hormuz. The possibility of a further decline in U.S. crude inventories also added pressure on oil prices. The dollar strengthened slightly, while U.S. Treasuries gave back part of the previous day's gains.
Separately, digital-asset manager Hashdex said Bitcoin's bear market may be nearing its final stretch when compared with past cycles. As of September 30, the downturn had lasted 359 days, close to the 361-day, 377-day and 411-day bear markets seen since 2011, according to its analysis. The share of Bitcoin held by short-term holders also fell to 16% of total supply, the lowest level since January 2023.
Markets are also focused on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting scheduled for October 27-28. Whether Bitcoin can reclaim $84,000 before the meeting will be a key test of whether the short-term rally can continue.