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South Korea Opposition Moves to Abolish Crypto Tax Amid $110B Capital Flight

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South Korea is not just delaying its crypto tax anymore. It wants to kill it entirely.

The People Power Party has introduced a bill to strike digital asset taxation from the Income Tax Act completely, ahead of its rescheduled 2027 implementation. The opposition Democratic Party, which holds the legislative majority and previously only agreed to a delay, is now reviewing full abolition.

The reason is hard to ignore. $110 billion in capital flight. Traders moved funds offshore specifically to escape the planned 22% levy.

That number changed the political calculus fast.

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Key Takeaways
  • Policy Shift: The People Power Party introduced a bill to completely remove crypto from the Income Tax Act, aiming to scrap the tax rather than just delay it to 2027.
  • Capital Flight: An estimated $110 billion has exited South Korean exchanges for offshore platforms, driven by the threat of a 22% tax on gains over $1,800.
  • Investor Impact: The move aims to level the playing field for retail ‘Ant’ investors, aligning crypto incentives with the local stock market’s much higher tax-free threshold.

The Mechanics of the Korea Crypto Abolition Bill Explained

The disparity driving this debate is stark.

Under the planned law, South Korean crypto traders would pay a 22% tax on gains above just 2.5 million won. That is roughly $1,781. Meanwhile the domestic stock market protects investors with a deduction threshold of 50 million won, around $35,600.

The PPP is calling it exactly what it is. Discriminatory treatment of 6 million crypto traders.

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The abolition bill goes further than the two-year moratorium agreed in December. It seeks to remove virtual assets from the taxation schedule entirely. The trigger is the $110 billion in capital that has already fled to overseas exchanges where Korean jurisdiction barely reaches.

Lawmakers are not acting on principle. They are reacting to data showing the domestic ecosystem is bleeding out.

The global context is accelerating the urgency. The US is signaling a pro-crypto regulatory stance and Korean lawmakers are watching closely. A hostile tax policy while competitors roll out the welcome mat could permanently handicap South Korea’s digital economy.

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The capital flight already happened. The question now is whether abolition can bring it back.

What This Means for the ‘Ants’ and the Kimchi Premium

For South Korea’s retail traders, known locally as Ants, this is the signal to bring capital home.

The Democratic Party has historically pushed back hard on crypto. But $110 billion in capital flight is a number that forces pragmatism over ideology. If the tax gets scrapped, the incentive to route funds through offshore platforms or private wallets disappears overnight.

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The kimchi premium is the market signal to watch. Historically that price gap between Korean exchanges and global markets spiked due to capital controls and regulatory evasion.

A tax-free environment on regulated platforms like Upbit and Bithumb would normalize volumes and turn the premium into a genuine sentiment indicator rather than a workaround tax.

The path to abolition is not guaranteed. The PPP introduced the bill but the Democratic Party holds the National Assembly majority. They agreed to a delay. A permanent scrapping of the tax still needs a formal vote. The 2027 implementation date remains on the books until that happens.

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There is also a sunk cost problem. The National Tax Service already spent roughly 3 billion won building an AI-powered transaction tracking system specifically designed for crypto enforcement. Abolition renders that investment effectively obsolete for income tax purposes.

The legislative clock is running. Until the amendment clears the plenary session, the 2027 tax date is still legally active.

Seoul either stays a crypto hub or keeps donating capital to offshore jurisdictions. The Ants are watching the assembly floor. The vote decides it.

Discover: The best new crypto in the world

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Crypto World

Forward Industries Funds Share Buyback With Solana-Backed Loan

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Stocks, Loans, Solana

Forward Industries, a publicly traded company with a Solana-focused treasury strategy, has launched a share repurchase program funded through a crypto-backed loan from Galaxy Digital LLC, underscoring how digital assets are increasingly being used in traditional corporate finance.

The company said Thursday it will repurchase 6,164,324 shares of its common stock from an unnamed institutional investor for approximately $27.4 million, reducing total shares outstanding to 76,977,809.

Cointelegraph’s email to Forward seeking further information on the identity of the selling institutional investor was not answered prior to publication.

Stocks, Loans, Solana
A partial list of Forward Industries’ institutional investors. Source: Fintel.io

Public filings indicate that only six institutional investors in Forward Industries hold enough shares to sell that volume back to the company. According to filings data compiled by Fintel.io, one of those holders is Galaxy Digital LP (8.68 million shares, as of Sept. 18, 2025) and another is Galaxy Group Investments LLC (8.11 million shares, as of Feb. 18, 2026.)

To fund the buyback, Forward secured a $40 million loan from Galaxy Digital LLC at an interest rate of 3.4%. The loan is collateralized by the company’s Solana (SOL) holdings, which total 7,013,536 SOL — valued at approximately $613 million at current market prices.

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The structure allows Forward to access liquidity without liquidating its crypto reserves, while continuing to generate yield through staking. The move reflects a broader trend of companies leveraging digital asset treasuries to optimize capital structure and potentially enhance shareholder returns.

The share repurchase appears to be part of Forward Industries’ November authorization to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock on an ongoing basis. At the time, the company said the program would provide financial flexibility amid heightened volatility in the crypto market.

That volatility has intensified in recent months, with Solana’s price falling below $90. The buyback may also help support Forward Industries’ stock, which is down 87% from its September peak.

Forward Industries (FWDI) stock. Source: Yahoo Finance

Related: Crypto’s 2026 investment playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized assets

Crypto treasury strategies face pressure

Forward Industries began aggressively accumulating Solana last year, when crypto treasury strategies gained traction during the bull market. The company has since built the largest publicly traded SOL treasury, with at least 18 other public companies adopting similar strategies, according to industry data.

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By February, these companies collectively held more than $1.5 billion in unrealized losses tied to the broader crypto market downturn. A significant portion of those losses is attributed to Forward Industries, which is down roughly $972 million.

Forward Industries ranks as the largest public holder of Solana. Source: CoinGecko

The sector’s volatility is likely to result in broad consolidation among crypto treasury companies, Wojciech Kaszycki of crypto infrastructure company BTCS told Cointelegraph.

Many treasury companies are under pressure as declining crypto prices push their valuations below the value of the digital assets they hold, while limited cash flow makes it harder to sustain operations.

Related: Crypto Biz: A Bitcoin treasury shareholder revolt