From BTC to DOGE and XRP: The Crypto Holdings of South Korea’s Top Officials

On March 27, the Government Public Ethics Committee in South Korea publicly disclosed the personal asset report of the country’s public officials for the year 2025. According to a report by the local media Munhwa, a significant number of public officials hold cryptocurrency. 

Out of 2,047 officials, 411 have directly invested in digital assets, representing 20% of the country’s public officials. The list includes high-profile individuals such as the Secretary General of the Labor-Management Development Foundation, the President of the Korean National Police University, and the Vice President of the Korea Water Resources Corporation.

Total Crypto Holdings and Average Investment Per Official

The report highlights that the total worth of crypto assets held by these 411 public officials amounts to 14.41 billion Korean won, equivalent to $9.8 million. Government public servants with cryptocurrency holdings have an average of 35.07 million Korean won (around $23,927) worth of cryptocurrency. 

This data shows that digital assets are being embraced as a good investment choice by South Korean government public servants, an indicator of the broader adoption of cryptocurrencies in South Korea.

Top Public Officials with the Highest Crypto Holdings

The disclosure report identifies Seoul City Councilor Kim Hye-young as the public official with the highest cryptocurrency investments. The total holding she owned was 1.76 billion KRW ($1.2 million), the asset diverse across 16 different cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Ripple (XRP). Her husband holds 0.01 ETH, 472 DOGE, and 519,004 XRP; her elder son owns 3.336 XRP.

Following Kim Hye-young, another Seoul City Councilor, Choi Min-gyu, ranks second with 1.6 billion Korean won ($1.09 million) in crypto assets. The third highest-ranking official in terms of digital asset holdings is Kim Ki-hwan, CEO of Busan-Ulsan Expressway Co., with a total investment of 1.4 billion Korean won ($955,031).

New Regulations Mandate Crypto Asset Disclosures

This is the second year in a row in which South Korean public servants have been required to report virtual assets in their statements of financial position. In May 2023, South Korean lawmakers enacted a law requiring public servants and candidates for political positions to disclose ownership of cryptocurrency.

The law came into force on January 1, 2024, mandating senior officials, including National Assembly members, to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings to the Government Public Ethics Committee.

Under this policy, Grade 4 government officials must disclose the quantity and type of cryptocurrency they hold. Grade 1 officials are under more stringent requirements, wherein they must provide a detailed report of how they acquired their crypto assets, along with a history of transactions for the past year. The reason behind this action is to increase financial transparency and prevent any form of abuse of digital funds in the government.

Implications for Crypto Adoption in South Korea

This latest news of government officials owning crypto is shifting sentiment towards crypto assets in South Korea. This higher involvement of government officials in the world of cryptocurrency investment is a reflection of rising confidence in the industry.

The mandatory disclosure policy is a significant policy that promotes ethical conduct by the officials and provides encouragement for accountability in financial activities. Therefore, such a law may become a model for other countries to enact corresponding policies that will provide transparency in the public sector in the event of digital assets ownership.