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Crypto Crime Could Mean Jail for Life in South Korea
The new consumer protection rules will take effect in July 2024.
Updated Mar 8, 2024, 9:09 p.m. Published Feb 7, 2024, 10:35 a.m.
Crypto criminals will face life imprisonment in South Korea when new consumer protection rules take effect this July, the country's financial regulator said Wednesday.
In December, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) proposed a consumer protection framework called the Virtual Asset User Protection Act. The rules take effect on July 19 and cover market manipulation, illegal trading and other violations leading to criminal punishment or fines, depending on the severity.
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"In the case of criminal punishment, a fixed-term imprisonment of more than one year or a fine equivalent to three to five times the amount of unjust enrichment is possible," the FSC said.
If proceeds from crime exceed 5 billion won ($3.8 million), the perpetrators can face a life sentence, the notice added.
South Korea has been strengthening its oversight of the digital assets sector, particularly targeting consumer protection. Approved initiatives so far compel companies and public figures to disclose crypto holdings.
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What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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