South Korea’s FIU flags over 36,000 crypto txns in 2025, more than 2023 and 2024 total

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit has flagged over 36,000 suspicious crypto transactions in 2025, a figure they claim has exceeded the total reported in 2023 and 2024.

According to Yonhap News, citing data from the FIU and the Korea Customs Service (KCS), local virtual asset service providers submitted 36,684 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) between January and August 2025, more than the 35,734 cases reported in the two previous years.

South Korea’s Specific Financial Information Act mandates exchanges and other crypto service providers to notify the FIU of potential money laundering and financial law violations. Suspicious transfers include attempts to convert illicit funds into crypto assets abroad and then cash them out domestically without passing through a foreign exchange bank.

South Korean FIU flags over 36,000 cases of suspicious crypto transactions

FIU authorities said the annual number of flagged cases logged in their records was just 199 reports in 2021, 10,797 in 2022, 16,076 in 2023, and 19,658 in 2024. This year’s count has already nearly doubled the previous record.

Customs officials reported that from 2021 through August 2025, virtual asset crimes referred to prosecutors amounted to 9.56 trillion won, or about $7.1 billion. Of this, 8.62 trillion won, roughly 90%, was linked to so-called “hwanchigi” schemes, where operators bypass banks to move funds overseas using crypto.

In May, customs agents exposed a money changer accused of converting about 57.1 billion won, or $42 million, from a Russian importer into Tether-issued stablecoin USDT. The case involved two Russian nationals accused of conducting over 6,000 illegal transactions between January 2023 and July 2024.

“Recently, as stablecoins have been widely used as a means of payment and settlement in the real economy, the potential for them to be abused for foreign exchange crimes such as currency exchange is increasing,” Representative Jin Sung-joon told reporters on Monday. He is asking the South Korean government to add more laws to stop illegal crypto-based foreign exchange transactions.

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis reported that crypto platforms suffered losses of about $2.2 billion from theft in 2025, more than the assets stolen last year. In South Korea, police arrested more than 200 individuals in 2024 on allegations of defrauding investors of approximately $240 million.

US-South Korea trade talks stall

The FIU disclosures come as South Korea faces economic struggles amid escalating trade disputes with the United States. As reported by Cryptopolitan on Monday, President Lee Jae-Myung believes Seoul could see a repeat of the hardships of the 1997 Asian financial crisis if it yields to Washington’s demands without “protective safeguards.”

The United States has pressed South Korea to provide $350 billion in cash in exchange for lower trade tariffs.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick supports the US President’s demands, arguing Seoul must accept the terms or face higher tariffs. Adding to the problematic discussions, fresh trade data released Monday showed South Korea’s early September exports tumbling as tariffs take effect. 

Adjusted for working days, shipments fell 10.6% in the first 20 days of September compared with a year earlier and a reversal from the 6% gain recorded in August.

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