The NPS was speaking in response to a request for comment from the lawmaker Baek Jong-heon.
Baek is a member of the ruling People Power Party and sits on the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee.
He asked the NPS to report on the “scale and proportion” of its “indirect investment in cryptoassets.”
Coinbase is the United States’ only publicly listed crypto exchange. MicroStrategy, meanwhile, has become the world’s biggest corporate Bitcoin (BTC) investor. The company’s CEO Michael Saylor is a high-profile Bitcoin advocate.
“Of late, media outlets have called the Coinbase and MicroStrategy investments indirect [crypto] investments. But the National Pension Service has never purchased shares in the companies in question in order to invest in cryptoassets.”
South Korean National Pension Service (NPS)
However, the NPS did not distance itself completely from the crypto market. It explained that its fund executives had not done anything to stop the “automatic” purchase of COIN or MXN shares.
“If we want to restrict investment in a specific industry or company group, the Fund Management Committee will make a ruling on the matter.”
NPS
Lawmaker Issues Caution
The NPS also said that if the committee wanted to “exclude companies related to cryptoassets” from its list of companies to invest in, it would need to create a “restriction plan” for such firms.
The fact that it has not yet done so indicates that the committee may well make further investments in crypto-related firms. The NPS concluded:
“We will actively support the Fund Management Committee if it decides to restrict investment in [crypto-related] companies.”
Lawmaker Baek, however, warned that the South Korean pension fund and its committee “should closely review investment policies related to cryptoassets.”
He stated that the NPS needed to “manage risks that may arise in the future” and “consider the volatility” of the crypto market.
Bank of Korea governor says board needs to discuss household debt https://t.co/cMtxdNpQxn pic. .com/8ubi6SBOwN
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 30, 2024
We Want More Freedom, Say Firms
South Korean firms are not currently permitted to make direct investments in cryptoassets.
However, with American and Japanese firms now using their balance sheets to buy BTC, Ethereum (ETH), and various altcoins, many in Seoul are urging the government to lift restrictions.
A crypto-keen South Korean IT business owner who spoke to Cryptonews.com on condition of anonymity, said:
“My company – and any other for that matter – should be free to invest our money in whatever assets we choose to. If this is the case in the United States, why aren’t our political leaders taking note?”