South Korea’s FIU Flags Over 36,000 Crypto Transactions in 2025 - Surpassing 2023 and Combined
South Korea's financial watchdog just dropped a bombshell that's shaking crypto markets from Seoul to Wall Street.
The Floodgates Open
South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit flagged a staggering 36,000+ cryptocurrency transactions in 2025 alone—more than the total from 2023 and 2024 combined. That's not just growth; that's an explosion.
Regulatory Whack-a-Mole
While traditional finance regulators scramble to keep up, digital assets keep evolving faster than compliance manuals can be printed. The FIU's surveillance systems are working overtime as transaction volumes defy all conventional projections.
Mainstream Adoption Meets Regulatory Scrutiny
This surge signals crypto's irreversible march into mainstream finance—proving that when regulation tries to contain innovation, innovation usually finds a way around it. TradFi banks would kill for this kind of transaction growth, if only they understood the technology behind it.
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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