On December 4, South Korean financial regulators issued an update requesting that users report any unlicensed crypto exchanges that provide services to users within the region.
The initiative was a joint effort between the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea and the Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA). Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax are among the five major virtual asset exchange members of DAXA.
As per the regulators, the purpose of obtaining these reports is to identify domestic and international virtual asset business operators that need to adhere to the provisions of Article 7 of the Specific Financial Information Act while targeting Korean citizens.
DAXA will initially evaluate the reports before forwarding the findings to the FIU. The FIU will then provide a response to DAXA regarding the operator’s status and whether notification is required.
An official from DAXA stated that the FIU “plans to take necessary measures, including notifying the investigative agency,” should operators persist in conducting “undeclared business activities.”
DAXA stated that tips must be submitted via its tip email address and contain all pertinent business information, justifications for suspicion, and evidence of undetected business activities.
This advancement coincides with South Korea’s ongoing efforts to increase its participation in the cryptocurrency sector. For “transparency” purposes, the Democratic Party of South Korea mandated on November 14 that its parliamentary candidates disclose any personal cryptocurrency holdings.
In October, the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) declared the commencement of regulatory preparations to supplement the abovementioned legislation, the Virtual Asset Users Protection Act (2023). The FSS projects that implement the new regulations will conclude by January 2024.
The Central Bank of South Korea declared its intention to extend invitations to one hundred thousand citizens to participate in the beta phase of its prospective central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2024 on November 23.