South Korean regulators have seen a rise in flagged cryptocurrency transactions in 2025, in accordance with a report by Yonhap Information.
In line with information from the Monetary Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Korea Customs Service (KCS), 36,684 suspicious transaction reviews (STRs) had been submitted by native crypto-related companies between January and August.
These reviews are required when monetary establishments, playing institutions, or crypto service platforms detect doable hyperlinks to unlawful cash sources or funding for illegal actions.
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In 2023, there have been 16,076 such reviews, and 19,658 in 2024. In contrast, solely 199 had been recorded in 2021, and 10,797 in 2022.
A big portion of the instances in 2025 contain unlawful foreign money transfers generally known as “hwanchigi”. These schemes embody criminals exchanging illicit cash into cryptocurrency via platforms overseas.
Between 2021 and August 2025, roughly $7.1 billion in crypto-related prison instances had been referred to prosecutors by the KCS. Round 90% of this quantity, roughly $6.4 billion, was linked to hwanchigi.
In a single case from Might 2025, officers uncovered a dealer accused of illegally transferring $42 million between South Korea and Russia utilizing Tether
$1.00
. Authorities claimed that two Russian people performed over 6,000 unlawful transactions throughout an 18-month interval beginning in 2023.
Lawmaker Jin Sung-joon has known as for stronger cooperation between the KCS and the FIU. He has urged them to enhance their potential to hint unlawful transfers and forestall funds from being hidden via advanced cryptocurrency strategies.
Not too long ago, South Korea’s Monetary Companies Fee (FSC) proposed a invoice to manage stablecoins pegged to the South Korean gained. What does the invoice embody? Learn the complete story.
