Bitcoin News and Finance South Korean Regulators Warn Dozens of Foreign Exchanges to Comply With New Rules Skip to main content

South Korean Regulators Warn Dozens of Foreign Exchanges to Comply With New Rules

South Korean Regulators Warn Dozens of Foreign Exchanges to Comply With New Rules

Overseas crypto exchanges marketing to Koreans will be blocked if they fail to comply with new South Korean regulations. The country’s anti-money laundering body has sent a notice to a number of foreign trading platforms warning them a registration is mandatory in order to provide services to Korean residents.

Korean Financial Intelligence Unit Notifies Foreign Crypto Exchanges of Registration Obligations

Access to foreign-based cryptocurrency exchanges can be denied and the platforms may face criminal investigations in South Korea if they don’t comply with the country’s new regulations for the sector. One of the key requirements is to register with the Korean anti-money laundering agency, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), by Sept. 24.

To remind them of their obligations, FIU has sent out a notice to 27 entities with crypto trading operations targeting Korean nationals, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced Thursday, quoted by the Korea Herald. The regulations adopted earlier this year also require exchanges to have information security certificates, but none of them has obtained one yet, officials said.

The commission emphasized that foreign exchanges shall cease business operations in Korea as of Sept. 25 unless they register with the FIU. Unregistered activities will lead to penalties, including up to five years of imprisonment and a fine that can reach 50 million Korean won (over $43,000). In a statement sent to the parliamentary National Policy Committee, the FSC elaborated:

Business activities carried out by overseas cryptocurrency exchanges targeting local customers without reporting to the Financial Intelligence Unit — an anti-money laundering unit under the Financial Services Commission — are illegal under the revised Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.

Compliance Deadline Approaching With Few Exchanges Meeting New Requirements

South Korea’s revised Special Funds Act took effect on March 25 but will be enforced in September after a six-month grace period. Another of its updated provisions requires cryptocurrency exchanges to cooperate with domestic banks on the issuance of real-name accounts for their users. While the country’s top four coin trading platforms — Bithumb, Upbit, Coinone, and Korbit — have secured partnerships with commercial banks, hundreds of smaller exchanges are facing closures.

South Korean Regulators Warn Dozens of Foreign Exchanges to Comply With New Rules

Korean banks fear exposure to money laundering, hacking, fraud, and other crypto-related risks. Under the new rules, they’ll be responsible for assessing a crypto platform’s transparency and the possibility of criminal activity. Requests to be relieved of liability for offenses committed through the crypto exchanges they work with was reportedly rejected by Korean regulators earlier this month.

According to the Korea Herald, the FSC is planning to send guidelines regarding the new regulations to foreign crypto operators providing services in the country. “If overseas cryptocurrency exchanges serve local customers with the won-currency settlement, they must register with the FIU and comply with the government’s guidelines to prevent money laundering,” FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo told lawmakers last week.

South Korea’s financial regulator is hardening its stance on foreign crypto service providers after authorities in a number of other jurisdictions, including Italy, Lithuania, the U.K., Japan, Germany, and Poland issued warnings against Binance, the world’s leading digital asset trading platform. New regulatory measures regarding the exchange range from temporary suspension of operations to stricter reporting requirements, the Korean daily notes, revealing a growing global crackdown on the market.

What’s your opinion about the new South Korean regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
Blogarama - Blog Directory