South Korea weighs legalizing crypto market makers after JPYC trades at 4 times its peg on Upbit

A stablecoin is supposed to be, well, stable. So when JPYC, a token pegged to the Japanese yen, launched on South Korea’s largest exchange and immediately tripled in price, it wasn’t a cause for celebration. It was a stress test that the country’s crypto regulatory framework failed in real time. JPYC listed on Upbit on September 17, 2026, marking the first yen-pegged token to receive a direct Korean won (KRW) trading pair in the country. The token opened at roughly 12 KRW, which tracked its intended peg. Within hours, it had rocketed to 37.6 KRW, more than three times its reference value, before drifting back toward the peg the following day. The regulatory gap that fueled the chaos The price spike wasn’t caused by some exotic exploit or coordinated pump scheme. It was, in large part, a consequence of South Korea’s own rules. Under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, market-making activities are treated as potential market manipulation. That means the professional liquidity providers who typically smooth out price swings on new listings, absorbing buy pressure and selling into demand, were effectively barred from participating. Upbit handled over 54% of global JPYC spot volume s...