Sharplink CEO Joseph Shalom told South Korean lawmakers on October 1 that the United States imposes no federal-level cap on crypto exchange ownership and no rule requiring banks to hold a majority stake in stablecoin issuers, urging Seoul to follow the conduct-regulation model rather than entrench entry barriers in its long-stalled Digital Asset Framework Act.

What did Shalom say at the National Assembly?

Shalom delivered the remarks during a digital asset dialogue with Min Byung-duk, a Democratic Party member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, held at the assembly members' office building in Yeouido, Seoul. Sharplink, an Ethereum treasury strategy company, ranks second globally in ETH accumulation.

"In the United States, there is no federal-level cap on crypto exchange ownership," Shalom said. "State laws apply to virtual currency trading, and while laws differ from state to state, there is no federal ownership ceiling of this kind." He added: "There is no specific number like 51% or over 50% set in the United States. There is also no rule requiring banks to serve as guarantors of regulatory compliance."

Shalom acknowledged that U.S. authorities retain intervention powers when ownership transactions cross certain thresholds and can revoke operating licenses for subsequent noncompliance.

Which Korean proposals does Shalom oppose?

Two provisions are blocking the framework legislation:

• A requirement that banks hold "50% plus one share" of any stablecoin issuer.
• A cap of approximately 15%–20% on major shareholders of virtual currency exchanges.

Min concurred with Shalom's diagnosis. "No country in the world has made these two issues contentious," the lawmaker said. "I believe this stems from the size of South Korea's banking cartel, and I think neither should be allowed." On the bank-stake rule, Min was categorical: "The idea that banks are safe and non-banks are not safe makes no sense. This is the supervisory authority wanting to make things convenient for itself, and it's a very poor structure."

On the exchange ownership cap, Min left room to negotiate upward from the 15%–20% range now under discussion, citing the public-interest argument that exchanges will capture outsized profits.

What is the legislative timeline?

Min said he intends to hold public hearings immediately after the parliamentary audit concludes, move to subcommittee review, and bring the framework act to the regular National Assembly session around December 2 or 9. A subsequent extraordinary session could deliver final passage by January 2027.

"The market will not wait for us," Min said. "We could pass the framework act and then ask the market to wait while we draft enforcement decrees, but we cannot ask the market to wait when we have done nothing at all." He also attacked the government's plan to begin virtual currency taxation next year: "Taxing without first establishing a framework law is shameless."

How does Shalom frame the U.S. approach?

The CEO invoked his prior work managing USDC reserve assets at BlackRock to argue that issuer discipline, not ownership restrictions, should anchor supervision. Issuers should meet core requirements such as voluntary trading, know-your-customer compliance, sanctions adherence, and market surveillance.

"We placed transparency as the top priority, composed reserves with the highest-quality liquid assets, and published the portfolio daily," Min summarized, citing Shalom's BlackRock experience. Both speakers endorsed conduct-based oversight. "Entry regulation creates unfairness, but conduct regulation makes parties accountable for their own actions," Min said.

What does Shalom want for Seoul?

Shalom identified three priorities for South Korea's market:

• Permit won-denominated stablecoins issued and managed domestically.
• Grant clear regulatory approval for tokenized equities.
• Structure the tokenized asset market.

"For the nation's future, stablecoins must be issued and managed domestically within South Korea, denominated in won, and clear regulatory approval for tokenized equities is needed," he said. On monetary sovereignty, Shalom warned: "South Korea should also open its stablecoin market and get started," otherwise dollar stablecoins will dominate domestic payments.

Min added a consumer-protection angle: "Deposit tokens are only available to those who have deposits, but there are more people in the world without deposits than with them. Transactions between AI agents can only be done with stablecoins."

What is the U.S. benchmark?

The U.S. GENIUS Act governing stablecoins takes effect January 18, 2027. The companion Clarity Act, which would regulate tokenized assets, stalled in Congress this year, but the Securities and Exchange Commission opened the market through regulatory exemptions. Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation have completed preparations to support tokenized asset trading.

Shalom pushed back against alternatives to Ethereum as the institutional settlement layer. "It is impossible for different financial institutions to agree on a single common standard. Ethereum has proven its reliability, security, and deep liquidity over more than 11 years without a single outage." He noted that more than 55% of stablecoin and real-world asset tokenization activity runs on Ethereum.

Sharplink, Bitmine, and other major ETH-accumulating companies have signed a formal pledge not to hold more than 5% of Ethereum's total supply. That commitment is now the operational test of whether treasury-style firms can credibly advocate for the network's decentralization.