South Korean authorities have reportedly flagged a document variety of suspicious crypto transactions this yr, with the entire already surpassing the mixed numbers of the previous two years.
Citing Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) information supplied to Representative Jin Sung-joon and the Korea Customs Service (KCS) statistics, Yonhap News reported that native digital asset service suppliers (VASPs) filed 36,684 suspicious transaction studies (STRs) between January and August 2025.
STRs are certainly one of South Korea’s core Anti-Money Laundering (AML) instruments. Under the nation’s legal guidelines, monetary establishments, casinos and VASPs should file STRs after they have affordable grounds to suspect that the funds contain legal proceeds, cash laundering or terrorist financing.
According to the information, the STRs filed between January and August exceed the mixed totals of 2023 and 2024, when STRs had been 16,076 and 19,658, respectively. This yr’s quantity additionally dwarfs 2021, which had 199 circumstances, and 2022, which had 10,797.
Authorities eye unlawful overseas remittances and stablecoins
South Korean officers mentioned a majority of the flagged transaction flows concerned “hwanchigi,” or unlawful overseas trade remittances. In these circumstances, legal proceeds are transformed into crypto utilizing offshore platforms. These are routed into home exchanges after which cashed out in gained.
From 2021 by way of August 2025, the KCS referred $7.1 billion price of crypto-linked crimes to prosecutors, with $6.4 billion (about 90%) tied to hwanchigi schemes.
In May, customs officers uncovered an underground dealer accused of utilizing the Tether (USDT) stablecoin to illegally transfer about $42 million between South Korea and Russia. Two Russian nationals had been accused of finishing up over 6,000 unlawful transactions between January 2023 and July 2024.
Because of circumstances like these, Jin urged companies, together with the KCS and the FIU, to strengthen efficient enforcement to trace legal funds and block disguised remittances.
The official mentioned the federal government companies should set up systematic countermeasures in opposition to new forms of overseas trade crimes.
Related: South Korea crypto companies get ‘enterprise firm’ standing subsequent week
A worldwide coverage concern
South Korea’s numbers present a broader coverage dilemma dealing with regulators across the globe. While stablecoins and digital currencies supply quicker and cheaper funds, additionally they create new channels for illicit flows.
The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation addresses illicit cross-border transaction dangers by requiring issuers to be licensed to make sure transparency.
It additionally caps giant stablecoin volumes. MiCA limits stablecoin transfers to 1 million transactions per day or a notional worth of 200 million euros per day.
In 2021, the European Central Bank’s policymakers floated the thought of limiting digital euro holdings to three,000 euros per particular person to forestall unchecked overseas trade exercise.
In 2023, the Bank of England proposed setting particular person caps on digital kilos between 10,000 ($13,558) and 20,000 British kilos. However, UK crypto teams slammed the method, saying these limits don’t work in observe.
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