A sizable portion of bitcoin owners reside in South Korea. As the business becomes more popular, the East Asian nation has seen a sharp increase in the adoption rate of cryptocurrencies. Despite this, current data hints that some of these cryptocurrency transactions might support illicit business.
worth up to $1.1 billion were detected by South Korean authorities.
The frequency of unlawful cryptocurrency-related transactions appears to have increased recently, according to a investigation. According to report, the majority of illicit foreign exchange transactions in South Korea this year have been tied to cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the data indicates that they have so far participated in nearly 75% of all illegal Forex transactions in 2022.
This sum is 70 times the total amount of illegal cryptocurrency-related FX transactions the nation saw in 2020. Additionally, it is almost twice as much as the 827 billion won seen throughout the year of 2021.
South Korea is investigating related cases totaling $3.4B in odd transactions in addition to the four unlawful FX transactions. According to reports, the transactions relate to illicit cryptocurrency activity. The officials claim that two important banks in the country enabled the transactions.
On August 11, South Korea announced its first arrests in connection with the investigation that is still underway into the enormous $3.4 billion transaction scam. Authorities reportedly detained three people who were allegedly involved in the investigation. The investigation has already uncovered connections to South Korean banks Woori and Shinhan.
The Metaverse and NFTs are two key growth sectors for the cryptocurrency industry in South Korea. The rise of the Metaverse market in South Korea was aided by a $177 million contribution from the South Korean government. As a result, it was the first administration to formally take this step.
As cryptocurrencies are used more extensively, this is due to their promise of financial freedom and resistance to censorship. But there is a correlation between rising adoption rates and an increase in illegal activities. This does not, however, imply that the industry is restricted in any manner. Legal transactions and criminal activity should be lessened by effective regulation and oversight, as seen in traditional finance.
