South Korean Lawmakers Push for Stricter Crypto Regulations

Ten South Korean lawmakers have proposed a bill that would give the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) more power to pursue unregistered crypto operators and refer them to prosecutors.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Eom Tae-young of the People Power Party and nine others, amends the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information by inserting a new provision, Article 15-4.

Under the proposal, anyone could report a suspected violation directly to the FIU, which could then investigate the allegation, analyze it, file a complaint, request a criminal investigation, or pass the information to investigators.

The FIU had referred 25 unregistered virtual asset service providers to police for investigation between August 2022 and August 2025, but police suspended investigations in 23 of those cases due to difficulties accessing suspects overseas.