South Korea's FIU Orders Blocking of Domestic Access for Two Undeclared Virtual Asset Operators, DAXA Refers 3 Entities for Investigation

Odaily: On October 30, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) requested that the Korea Communications Standards Commission block domestic access for two undeclared virtual asset operators in South Korea, including termination of services. On the same day, the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), citing suspected violations of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information and undeclared operation of virtual asset businesses, referred Aegis Ventures, TetherMax, and SuperTrust for investigation. The FIU requested the blocking of TetherMax and SuperTrust; Aegis Ventures has no independent website or mobile application and was therefore not included in the blocking request. Operators of undeclared virtual asset businesses can face up to 5 years in prison or a fine of 50 million Korean won, and the law applies equally to overseas operators serving Korean residents. The FIU stated that undeclared operators fall within regulatory blind spots and may be used for money laundering. In June of this year, a joint investigation by DAXA and compliant operators found that the average transaction fees of the seized operators ranged from 1.5% to 10%, with the highest being approximately 62 times the average level of 0.16% among South Korea's five major Korean won trading platforms.