South Korea’s Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung has reportedly become the latest presidential candidate to promise the approval of spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other crypto-friendly measures, should he be elected.

Lee announced his crypto promises on May 6 as part of a broader initiative to provide more investment opportunities for Korea’s youth, one of the main target demographics for the fast-approaching June 3 election.

“I will create a safe investment environment so that young people can [build] assets and plan for the future,” The Korea Economic Daily (KED) quoted Lee as saying in Korean.

He also promised the legalization of spot crypto ETFs, lower transaction fees, and more consumer protection measures.

Lee’s Democratic Party of Korea is the favorite to win the presidential election with 42% support, according to a survey conducted by Korea’s National Barometer Survey between April 24 and 30. Korea’s acting president, Han Duck-soo, came in second at 13%.

This is the first time Lee has mentioned crypto as part of his presidential campaign, KED noted. 

The Democratic Party made similar promises in its 2024 general election campaign, including passing spot crypto ETF legalization. However, progress stalled, KED said.

South Korea’s People Power Party makes similar promises

South Korea’s ruling party, the People Power Party, also reportedly made crypto policy promises in late April, which included allowing spot crypto ETFs, dismantling Korea’s controversial one-exchange-one-bank rule, and establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins.

Source: Cointelegraph

The one-exchange-one-bank rule in South Korea is a regulation that limits each crypto exchange to working with only one local bank. It is intended to prevent money laundering and strengthen transparency by ensuring that the identities of crypto investors can be verified when trading crypto.

South Korean industry officials estimate that 16 million or 31% of the country’s 51.7 million people have access to a crypto account.

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Kim Moon-soo is running as the People Power Party’s candidate — a party previously led by Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached after he declared martial law in December.

The controversial measure triggered a considerable fall in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and other cryptocurrencies. However, most coins recovered when the martial law was lifted around six hours later.

Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon in a unanimous 8–0 decision decision on April 4, effectively removing him from office.

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Investors have been piling into BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund for over three weeks straight, culminating in the asset’s run up to $97,000 on May 7.

The BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust has seen 16 days of inflows for the spot BTC ETF, with a further 280 Bitcoin (BTC) or around $36 million piling into the fund on May 6, according to HODL15Capital.  

The inflow streak was noted by ETF Store President Nate Geraci, who also observed on X that the fund was approaching $5 billion in new capital. 

“I remember when naysayers didn’t think spot Bitcoin ETFs would take in $5 billion in total last year,” he added. 

“IBIT alone has done this in a few weeks, more than a year after launch.”

The BlackRock fund (IBIT) has seen around $4.7 billion in inflows since its last outflow day on April 9.

Additionally, it is the only spot BTC ETF in the United States to post inflows this week, with all other funds outflowing assets or seeing zero flows since May 1, according to Farside Investors. 

The last trading day on May 6 saw an aggregate outflow of $86.4 million as Grayscale’s GBTC shed almost $90 million, offsetting the BlackRock inflows. 

Spot Bitcoin ETFs see first outflow day this month. Source: Coinglass

It is a really good sign for the long term, commented Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, adding that it “Inspires confidence in our call that BTC ETFs will have triple gold’s [ETF’s] AUM [assets under management] in 3 to 5 years.”

Related: US Bitcoin ETFs bought 6x more than BTC miners produced last week

In related news, BattleShares has filed for four ETFs on May 6 aimed at pitting Bitcoin against Ethereum and gold with a mix of long and short positions.

“A new ETF is going to go long Bitcoin and short Ether,” commented Balchunas about one of the ETFs, who added, “The ticker should be MAXI.”

Bitcoin back at resistance 

Spot Bitcoin prices have returned to resistance, briefly topping $97,500 during early trading on May 7. 

The asset revisited May 2 price levels but could not advance further, falling back to $96,538 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko. 

The 2.2% daily gain may have been partly driven by New Hampshire becoming the first US state to pass strategic Bitcoin reserve legislation on May 6. 

“The odds of multiple states passing Strategic Bitcoin Reserve legislation into law just went up by a massive amount today,” commented Satoshi Action Fund co-founder and CEO Dennis Porter. 

Sentiment may have also been boosted by reports that the United States and China are planning to hold high-level trade talks in Switzerland this weekend, according to the Washington Post. 

“We will meet on Saturday and Sunday to discuss our shared interests,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X. “The current tariffs and trade barriers are unsustainable, but we don’t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade,” he added. 

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Key takeaways:

Bitcoin must maintain above $95,000 to have a chance at retesting its $109,000 all-time high; failure to hold could lead to a deeper correction, crypto analysts warn.

Several crypto analysts told Cointelegraph in March that Bitcoin may have a chance of reaching new all-time highs in June.

The upcoming Federal Reserve decision on May 7 could influence Bitcoin’s price movement over the coming days.

Bitcoin needs to continue to hold above the $95,000 level for a chance to climb back and retest its all-time high, or face an even deeper correction, crypto analysts say.

It comes after several analysts told Cointelegraph earlier this year that June could be the month Bitcoin (BTC) reaches new all-time highs.

“The $95,000 level — currently under consolidation — is a critical pivot point, acting as the lower boundary of a three-month range that defined market structure between November 2024 and February 2025,” Bitfinex said in a May 6 markets report.

Bitcoin holding above $95K would signal a “structural shift”

Bitfinex said that Bitcoin holding above the $95,000 level would signal a “structural shift” back into bullish territory, with a potential upward trend toward retesting its all-time highs. 

Bitcoin reached its $109,000 all-time high on Jan. 20, just hours before US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $96,730, up 3.03% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. 

However, Bitfinex analysts said if Bitcoin fails to hold above $95,000, it could be headed for further downfall.

“Failure to hold, however, could turn the region into resistance once more, raising the risk of a short-term rejection and another leg of corrective price action.”

They said the next several days will determine whether Bitcoin will be heading “into a sustained breakout or resolves into a retest of lower support zones.”

Bitcoin is up 2% over the past seven days. Source: CoinMarketCap

However, if Bitcoin continues the rally, it may catch many traders offside. Crypto analyst Thomas Fahrer said in a May 7 X post that $400 million of Bitcoin short positions are at risk of liquidation at the $98,000 price level. “Send it,” Fahrer said.

Bitcoin is approaching the timeframe many analysts predicted for new highs earlier this year. On March 28, Real Vision chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts projected a best-case target of $123,000 by June.

Related: Bitcoin price rallied 1,550% the last time the ‘BTC risk-off’ metric fell this low

Around the same time, Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten said that Bitcoin has a “50% chance” of reaching new all-time highs before the end of June.

Since 2013, Bitcoin’s average performance in June has been slightly negative at -0.35%.

The upcoming Federal Reserve interest rate decision on May 7 could also have an impact on Bitcoin’s price.

The announcement often sees crypto market volatility both before and after the results are published. However, the latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicates that the futures market sees minimal odds of a rate cut.

Meanwhile, overall market sentiment is becoming more positive as Bitcoin’s price approaches the psychological $100,000 price level.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall market sentiment, has spiked again over the past 24 hours, further into “Greed” territory, jumping 8 points to a score of 67.

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.