South Korea's financial authorities have investigated 40 crypto market manipulation cases since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect in July 2024. More than 30 of those cases have been referred to investigative agencies for prosecution, exposing 25 suspects across two years of enforcement.
Two years of enforcement
The law, passed on July 19, 2024, gave the Financial Services Commission new tools. The agency built a specialized investigation unit and added digital forensic capabilities. The numbers show the scale of the problem: average illicit gains per case were about 1.4 billion won. Eight cases involved gains between 500 million and 5 billion won, and one case exceeded 5 billion won.
Penalties and next steps
Regulators imposed penalties of 125% to 165% of illicit gains in two cases. But authorities say they need more power to block hidden proceeds. They plan to introduce account and bank-account payment suspension powers. A reporting and reward system for unfair trading is under review for second-phase legislation. Authorities also intend to expand AI-based market surveillance.
The timeline for those measures hasn't been announced yet.
