White House Crypto Council, Apollo, Tether, Robinhood: What Changes Are Coming to the Crypto Market This Fall?

Summary

Xangle CEO Kim Jun-woo says this year's Korea Blockchain Week marks a shift from tech founders and policy to financial institutions and product providers like Apollo, Tether, and Robinhood. He argues foreign firms are coming to use Korea's high-risk retail market as an early-adopter test bed and to capture Korean users rather than build Korean industry. Tokenized equities are still premature because the required settlement, custody, collateral, and yield infrastructure is not built. He sees leading Korean exchanges as potential partnership hubs but says a KRW stablecoin must come first before Korean digital asset services can develop.

• KBW's focus shifted from crypto founders to regulators and now to financial institutions preparing products.
• Apollo, Tether, and Robinhood attendance signals global firms targeting Korean retail users.
• Korea's high retail risk appetite makes it an early-adopter test market.
• Leading Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb have user bases that institutions may need.
• Tokenized equities currently lack necessary infrastructure and are not yet a large market.
• KRW stablecoin must come before tokenized stocks; dollar stablecoin first is viewed as unacceptable.
• Korean financial firms are behind global peers and must collaborate or risk losing the market.