South Korea Fines Crypto Exchange Coinone $3.5 Million for Anti-Money Laundering Violations
Coinone is South Korea’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange. Under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, operators must verify customers’ identities, restrict trading by users who have not completed verification and refrain from dealing with unreported overseas virtual-asset service providers. The rules are a key safeguard against money laundering and the flow of criminal funds into crypto markets.
The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), under South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, decided on April 13, 2026, to fine Coinone 5.2 billion won, or about $3.5 million, and ordered a partial business suspension from April 29 to July 28. Its investigation found about 70,000 violations involving customer verification and trading restrictions, as well as 10,113 asset transfers involving 16 unregistered overseas exchanges.
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The history behind this eventSouth Korea’s FIU Proposes Six-Month Bithumb Suspension Over KYC, Anti-Money Laundering Breaches
South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit regulates crypto exchanges under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, requiring them to comply with know-your-customer and anti-money laundering rules. Bithumb was implicated in 6.65 million KYC violations and transactions with unregistered overseas operators, making the case a significant part of South Korea’s tighter oversight of its five largest domestic exchanges.
The FIU issued its final ruling in 2025, imposing a 36.8 billion won fine, equivalent to about $24 million, and a six-month partial business suspension that restricted virtual-asset withdrawals by new members. Trading by existing users was not immediately affected. A South Korean court subsequently stayed the suspension in July 2025, citing precedent from the Dunamu case, pending the outcome of administrative litigation.
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