Illegal operations involving crytocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) will soon be stalled in South Korea, because myriads of Korean Financial authorities are planning to join forces to fight it.
In response to growing concerns over speculative investments and potentially illegal activities amid the ongoing boom in crypto markets, the interagency crackdown becomes pertinent, according to the head of the office for Government policy coordination , Koo Yun Cheol.
Cheol stated that Illegal activities using virtual assets has called for high level of attention.
The Financial Services Commission will require local financial institutions to strengthen the monitoring of cryptocurrency withdrawals and any transaction that is suspicious should be taken to the Financial Intelligence Unit of the State that is in charge of investigating financial crimes. The aforementioned is part of the crackdown.
Other regulators like the finance ministry and the Financial Supervisory Service also plan to keep an eye on cross-border crypto transactions, the report notes.
South Korea has been facing strict regulation after officially imposing the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information in late March 2021. According to the law, local crypto exchanges must maintain relationships with local banks to ensure mandatory real-name account trading. The National Tax Service of South Korea has been increasing its efforts to combat tax evasion involving crypto, as reported in March.