South Korea's Crypto Cop Tickled 40 Bad Actors in 2 Years — Average Haul: A Cool $940K 😏

South Korea's financial authorities have probed more than 40 cases of unfair crypto trading, including market manipulation and fraudulent activity, over the past two years, Financial Services Commission Chair Lee Eog-won disclosed in a post on X. Of those cases, 30 were either reported or referred to investigative agencies, resulting in 25 identified suspects since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect in July 2024.

Lee said the average unlawful gains tied to the cases totaled roughly 1.4 billion Korean won, or about $940,000. Marking the second anniversary of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, Lee called the legislation a meaningful step that brought the virtual asset market, previously outside the institutional framework, under the rule of law and established a user protection regime.

The law requires virtual asset service providers to separate client deposits and digital assets from their own corporate holdings, with client deposits held at banks. It also targets illicit practices such as insider trading, wash trading, and market manipulation, while expanding the FSC's authority to supervise and inspect VASPs. Lee added that the regulator plans to continue upgrading its AI-based market surveillance and monitoring systems to address high-risk activity.

"We will continue to enhance market surveillance investigation and monitoring systems based on AI, and proactively respond to high-risk areas," Lee said.