South Korea Cracks Down on Anonymous Crypto Transfers

Starting in February, South Korean virtual asset providers must refuse any incoming transfer that arrives without the required originator and beneficiary information. The transfer won't be flagged or held for remediation; it will be refused.

The obligation sits with the receiving institution in Seoul, but the consequences land on whoever owns outbound flows at the sending firm, wherever that firm is based, and it applies whether or not you have a Korean entity.

The deadline is firm, February 19, 2027, but much of what the rule requires is undefined because the criteria they depend on haven't been written yet. It's a scoping problem most compliance teams will recognize and an early test of self-hosted wallet restrictions the EU is still deciding whether to adopt.