The virtual asset industry has recently been hit hard by commercial banks’ abnormal foreign exchange transactions. This is because ‘Coin’ is suspected as the source of the 2 trillion won worth of money. In some cases, ‘money laundering’ using the difference in the premium of kimchi, where virtual assets are sold at a higher price in Korea than abroad
raises the possibility
In response, the virtual asset industry believes that the possibility is low, saying, “If foreign currency remittance was made through interbank transfers after transacting on a domestic won exchange, it would have been automatically reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).”
On the 8th, the financial authorities are expanding their investigation into foreign exchange transactions involving Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank to all banks. It is known that no investigation has been launched on the five largest virtual asset exchanges in Korea (Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone, and Gopax) so far.
Earlier, Director Lee Bok-hyeon of the Financial Supervisory Service said, “There are concerns that there may be transactions similar to foreign exchange transactions, which have occurred recently, so we are conducting an inspection of the entire banking sector.”
In this investigation, all personnel from the General Banking Inspection Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Service and the Foreign Exchange Inspection Bureau are being put into operation on a large scale.
The financial authorities are first examining whether the 2 trillion won worth of money remitted overseas was remitted under the pretext of trading gold bars and semiconductor chips. This means that the transaction amount is too large for the size of the company, so we will try to dig into the possibility that it may be used for overseas money laundering.
However, they seem to be keeping their distance from allegations of overseas money laundering.
Currently, there are a total of five virtual asset exchanges that operate KRW markets, with K-Bank (Upbit), NH Nonghyup Bank (Bithumb, Coinone), Shinhan Bank (Korbit), and Jeonbuk Bank (GoPax) each having their own accounts. it’s popping
Exchanges are granting real-name accounts only to individuals to prevent money laundering risks. In other words, a real-name account is essential to buy and sell coins in KRW in the KRW market. In simple terms, it is impossible for corporate members to deposit and withdraw money through K-Bank in Upbit.
In April, Shinhan Bank opened a real-name account for virtual asset transactions to corporations, but it is reported that only some corporations were involved. In order for corporations to trade virtual assets, they must purchase virtual assets in the over-the-counter market and trade them in the domestic virtual asset exchange’s coin market.
An official from the virtual asset industry explained, “We are monitoring the abnormal transaction sign system internally. It is a method of detecting suspicious signals by mainly looking for abnormal transaction patterns rather than the amount of money.”
Another official said, “There is currently no evidence that foreign exchange transactions are from coins.” He said, “For transactions over 10 million won, a mandatory report should be made to the FIU.
If an account opened by a commercial bank is used for money laundering, it is difficult for both the bank and the exchange to avoid liability. In addition, since the Lunar incident and various coin market accidents have already lowered the reliability of the virtual asset market, it can act as a double-defense factor.
There is also a scenario in which the foreign exchange transaction this time is a fund involved in crimes such as voice phishing. In this regard, the prosecution is said to be investigating the possibility of Chinese intervention by the Securities Crimes Unit.
An official from the financial sector said, “Various speculations such as black money, coin laundering, and fund funds can cause confusion.
