On January 14th, the South Korean financial authorities announced that despite the approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to Bitcoin spot prices by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week, they will not review related U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs or launch local Bitcoin spot ETFs. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea stated in a statement last Friday that trading Bitcoin ETFs may be illegal in South Korea. Rhee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, told reporters last week that Bitcoin has become a high-risk investment asset.