South Korea is ramping up its crypto regulation efforts by considering the transformation of a temporary crypto crime unit into a permanent department.
🔍 The decision comes in response to a surge in suspicious activities reported by cryptocurrency firms, with last year seeing a 49% increase.
📅 Top justice and safety authorities in South Korea are set to discuss this proposal in early May, with the aim of establishing the Joint Virtual Asset Crime Investigation Unit as a permanent department.
👥 The unit, originally formed in July 2023, comprises experts from various financial and tax agencies and was the country's first dedicated to addressing crimes involving digital assets.
⏳ Urgency for this upgrade stems from the substantial increase in reported suspicious transactions in 2023, totaling over 16,000.
🛡️ Additionally, South Korea is gearing up to implement stringent crypto regulations on July 19, aiming to protect investors by imposing severe penalties for crimes like market manipulation, with life imprisonment for the most serious cases.
💼 These regulatory measures are part of broader efforts to establish a more regulated and secure environment for digital currency transactions in South Korea.
