South Korea Tightens Cross-Border Regulation of Cryptocurrency Assets, Requires Advance Registration for Corporate Asset Transfers

BlockBeats News, May 8th - The South Korean National Assembly passed an amendment to the "Foreign Exchange Transactions Act," strengthening the regulation of local companies' cross-border transfer of crypto assets. This amendment requires companies intending to transfer crypto assets overseas for commercial purposes to register with the Minister of Economy and Finance in advance. It also introduces the definition of "virtual asset transfer business," covering institutions such as crypto exchanges and digital asset custodians engaged in buying, selling, exchanging, and transferring crypto assets domestically and internationally.

This is part of South Korea's recent tightening of crypto regulations. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has planned to expand the Travel Rule to all crypto transactions (previously limited to transactions over 1 million KRW), and starting from January 2027, a 22% capital gains tax will be imposed on crypto earnings exceeding 2.5 million KRW.