- Regulators want to make broad changes to South Korea’s anti-money laundering rules.
- Taskforce to present policy document by end of June 2026.
The South Korean government is starting to make more room for crypto, but regulators want receipts for all transactions, regardless of their size.
The Financial Intelligence Unit, the regulatory body that polices domestic crypto exchanges, has launched a policy-forming taskforce to improve anti-money laundering measures in the crypto sector.
The upshot? Crypto exchanges may soon have to share sender and recipient information for transactions with one another and industry watchdogs, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported.
This comes after years of criticism against the 25-year-old anti-money laundering system for failing to adequately fight rapidly rising cross-border crimes, the newspaper wrote.
If the government adopts the taskforce’s recommendations, South Korean regulators will gain new powers over both domestic crypto operators and traditional financial providers in the year ahead.
New regulations incoming
The tougher policing of the industry centres around the Financial Action Task Force’s Travel Rule. This was designed to mirror the way traditional banks monitor wire transfers. Banks use these protocols to block transfers linked to the financing of terrorism and money laundering.
At present, only larger crypto transactions, those worth over $700, are subject to Travel Rule compliance obligations in South Korea.
But the Financial Intelligence Unit has launched a policy-forming taskforce to improve anti-money laundering measures in the crypto sector, Chosun Ilbo reported.
The unit says the taskforce will draft an improvement plan for the South Korean anti-money laundering system “in the first half of next year.”
The taskforce said its crypto-related work will focus on improving the regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers, or VASPs; closer compliance with Financial Action Task Force crypto regulation standards; and enhancing anti-money laundering-related inspections and crackdowns on non-compliant exchanges.
The taskforce said it will develop “customised” anti-money laundering measures that “reflect the new crypto market environment,” Chosun Ilbo reported.
These measures will include new regulations for stablecoins. The government is determined to let domestic firms launch Korean won-denominated stablecoins early next year. This would require the National Assembly to lift a long-standing ban on domestic coin issuance.
The Financial Intelligence Unit says the taskforce will discuss the finer details of its plans at biweekly meetings that will culminate in a policy paper.
Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at tdalper@dlnews.com.
