South Korea's FIU requests blocking domestic access for two undeclared virtual asset operators, DAXA refers three involved institutions for investigation.

October 30 - According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) requested the Korea Communications Standards Commission on October 30 to block domestic access (including termination of services) to two undeclared virtual asset operators. On the same day, the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) referred three institutions - Aegis Ventures, TetherMax, and SuperTrust - for investigation on suspicion of violating the Specific Financial Information Act and operating virtual asset businesses without declaration. The FIU requested the blocking of access to TetherMax and SuperTrust. Aegis Ventures does not have an independent website or mobile app, so it was not included in the blocking request.

Under current law, those operating virtual asset businesses without declaration can face up to 5 years in prison or a fine of 50 million Korean won. This law also applies to overseas operators serving Korean residents. The FIU stated that undeclared operators are in a regulatory blind spot and may be used for money laundering. In June this year, a joint intensive investigation by DAXA and compliant operators found that the average transaction fees of the operators investigated ranged from 1.5% to 10%, with the highest being approximately 62 times the average level (0.16%) of South Korea's five major won exchanges.