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Korea’s FIU Sounds Alarm as Suspicious Crypto Reports Double in 2025

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) reported over 36,000 suspicious cryptocurrency transactions from January to August 2025, surpassing the mixed determine for the earlier two years.

The regular rise reveals rising dangers of cash laundering and foreign-exchange schemes that use stablecoins and different digital belongings. As home cryptocurrency buyers exceed 10 million, officers are urging stronger oversight and quicker motion.

Suspicious Activity Reports Reach New High

South Korea faces a pointy enhance in questionable cryptocurrency transactions. Between January and August 2025, the FIU received 36,684 suspicious transaction reviews (STRs), which already tops the mixed 35,734 reviews recorded in 2023 and 2024. The figures present how rapidly potential crypto-related crimes are increasing.

Under the Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information, native exchanges should file STRs once they suspect cash laundering or different criminality. These filings embody circumstances the place criminals convert illicit funds into digital belongings overseas after which transfer them again to home platforms for cashing out.

The rise has been regular. The FIU logged 199 STRs in 2021, 10,797 in 2022, 16,076 in 2023, and 19,658 in 2024. By August 2025, reviews had already doubled final yr’s whole. Therefore, regulators see a transparent upward development that mirrors speedy crypto adoption.

Customs Data Show Billions in Illicit Flows

Moreover, the Korea Customs Service reported crypto-related crimes price 95.6 trillion received (about US$71 billion) despatched to prosecutors from 2021 via August 2025. About 90 p.c concerned unregistered foreign money trade schemes to maneuver funds throughout borders with out detection.

One case in May illustrates the danger. A foreign money vendor allegedly helped switch about 57.1 billion received by issuing dollar-denominated Tether (USDT) stablecoins to Russian importers in trade for money. Officials say such offers present how stablecoins can masks cross-border fund flows and make enforcement more durable.

Meanwhile, crypto-related crime is rising worldwide. BeInCrypto has reported a number of high-profile circumstances that reveal each scale and class. In August, Hayden Davis, a promoter of the LIBRA mission, was charged with profiting about US$12 million via a scheme tied to Kanye West’s YZY Snipe venture.

North Korean hackers have additionally focused crypto professionals with fake job offers that hid malware in video apps and coding challenges. In Japan, police uncovered a fraud ring that laundered roughly $7.5 million through crypto exchanges to fund organized crime. These incidents spotlight the worldwide attain of crypto-enabled monetary crime.

Governments are responding. Coinbase and Binance launched the Beacon Network in the US to coordinate real-time actions towards crypto crime. Likewise, Turkey introduced a sweeping evaluate of its digital-asset guidelines to curb cash laundering, unlawful playing, and fraud. Such strikes present that coordinated motion is changing into pressing.

Lawmakers Urge Stronger Oversight

Ruling Democratic Party’s Former Chair of Policy Committee Jin Sung-joon obtained the FIU knowledge and known as for stricter controls. He warned that stablecoins are actually frequent in real-world funds, creating new alternatives for overseas trade violations. Therefore, he urged the FIU and the Customs Service to strengthen investigations and block disguised remittances.

Jin added that efficient monitoring requires know-how and cooperation amongst regulators, regulation enforcement, and exchanges. South Korea might even see additional progress in crypto-related crimes with no stronger framework, even as home buyers surpass 10 million.

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