South Korea investigates 40 crypto manipulation cases

South Korea's financial regulator has investigated more than 40 cases of market manipulation and unfair trading in the cryptocurrency sector over the past two years, referring the majority to law enforcement and identifying 25 suspects. Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eogwon disclosed the figures to mark the second anniversary of the country's Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which took effect on July 19, 2024.

Lee stated that authorities have reported or referred more than 30 of these cases to investigative agencies since the law was enacted. The average unlawful gains in the reviewed cases reached approximately 1.4 billion Korean won, equivalent to about $940,000.

The Virtual Asset User Protection Act established South Korea's first dedicated legal framework for cryptocurrency oversight. The law requires virtual asset service providers to segregate customer holdings from company assets and mandates that user deposits be held in banks. It also grants regulators explicit powers to inspect these providers and combat practices including insider trading, wash trading, and market manipulation.

In his announcement, Lee said the law was a meaningful step that brought the...