• South Korean lawmakers are distancing themselves from cryptocurrency ownership, with many reporting their wallets contain only "crypto dust".
  • Lawmakers are publicly declaring their crypto holdings before elections, revealing minimal investments.
  • A recent report showed that only 36 out of 300 National Assembly officials own cryptocurrencies of any significant value, which account for just 0.01% of their total assets.

South Korean lawmakers are stepping back from cryptocurrency ownership, stating their wallets mostly hold “crypto dust,” which are tiny amounts left after selling off larger holdings and are often too small to trade.

This shift follows increased scrutiny of politicians’ crypto assets amid ongoing scandals, including the notorious Coin Gate affair.

This scandal implicated former lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, who was accused of insider trading and using confidential information to trade coins. These allegations have pushed lawmakers to declare their crypto holdings publicly before elections.

According to a CoinPedia report, a member of parliament recently sold $85,200 in Bitcoin shortly after declaring his assets. Some lawmakers, including Cheon Ha-ram from the New Reform Party, disclosed that they have wallets containing coins received through airdrops; his wife’s 11 wallets held just $16 worth of tokens.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jun-hak also sold $85,700 in Bitcoin after declaring his holdings, while Park Chung-kwan of the People’s Power Party sold his Solana holdings earlier this year.

“I sold everything I could. I’m left with small amounts that can’t be traded. I knew my wife was trading coins, but I never got involved or knew what she was trading,” Cheon Ha-ram stated.

Crypto dust refers to the tiny amounts of cryptocurrency left over after larger trades or sales. These small fractions are often too minimal to meet the minimum trading limits of most exchanges, leading them to pile up in wallets and stay untradeable.

A report by Sisa Journal reveals that before the April 10 elections, only 36 out of 300 elected National Assembly officials reported owning any cryptocurrency with a non-zero value. However, these holdings represented just 0.01% of the total assets of all lawmakers, an essentially negligible figure.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah

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