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South Korea plans to allow universities to trade cryptocurrencies starting in 2025, and companies will be allowed to open enterprise crypto wallets later

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to allow public institutions such as universities to trade cryptocurrencies by 2025, eventually allowing companies to open enterprise crypto wallets. Several major universities have received cryptocurrency donations in recent years. But current government guidelines prohibit them from selling cryptocurrencies for cash. While there is no law explicitly prohibiting public institutions and companies from opening bank accounts linked to cryptocurrency wallets, regulators have told domestic banks not to accept applications from anyone other than private citizens. The FSC document purportedly outlined a "first phase" on the roadmap that would allow "central government departments, local government entities, public institutions, other non-profit organizations and universities" to "trade" cryptocurrencies. Universities such as Seoul National University will be able to sell long-held endowment tokens such as WEMIX, and companies and banks may be allowed to participate in crypto trading in a later stage, but listed companies may be restricted to holding crypto assets with only a small amount of capital. Experts say they believe SNU currently holds about 800 million won ($566,000) worth of WEMIX.