South Korea’s financial regulators have released an update on December, asking users to report unlicensed cryptocurrency trading exchanges that offer services in the area. This project was jointly developed by the five major virtual asset exchanges operating in the country – Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. The regulators’ goal is to find domestic and international virtual asset business operators who are targeting Korean citizens under Article 7 of the Specific Financial Information Act.

The Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA) reviews the reported information, which is then forwarded to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). If operators continue their involvement in “undeclared business activities”, the FIU plans to take necessary measures, including notifying the investigative agency.

DAXA has an email address where anyone can report suspicious businesses. This should include the full name of the business, reasons why it is suspected, and evidence that the business has not declared its activities.

This development comes as South Korea continues to expand its involvement with the crypto-industry. On November, the Democratic Party mandated the disclosure of personal crypto holdings by candidates for parliament for “transparency” purposes.

In October, the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced that it will begin preparing for new regulations to replace the Virtual Asset Users Protection Act, which was passed in 2023. The new regulations will be implemented by the FSS in January 2024.

On November 23, South Korea’s central bank announced that it plans to invite 100,000 citizens to test out its forthcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2024.