The post Crypto crime from South Korea to Cambodia surged 1,400-fold last year appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

South Korea’s crypto sector is under heightened scrutiny after transfers to Cambodia jumped 1,400-fold last year, exposing fresh anti-money laundering (AML) challenges for financial regulators. The country’s largest crypto exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit, handled the highest volume of suspicious transfers. Bithumb facilitated about 12.4 billion won ($9 million) in transactions, while Upbit processed 366 million won ($271,000). The funds were sent to Huione Guarantee, a Cambodian online marketplace sanctioned by the U.S. and UK. Most of the transfers were made in USDT stablecoins. “Realistically, it’s extremely difficult to detect all suspicious transactions on Korean exchanges before they occur,” said Youchull Jung, an attorney specializing in white collar crime at Lee & Ko in South Korea. Jung said the movement of crypto from Korean to Cambodian exchanges reflect the cat-and-mouse dynamic in enforcement with reports filed and transactions blocked only after the money had already started to move. Korea’s offshore financial crime crisis Financial scams that funnel crypto to Cambodia has become a flashpoint in national politics. Lawmakers questioned the effectiveness and speed of regulators’ countermeasures at a parliamentary audit on October 27. Jung explained that increased enforcement in South Korea has driven fraudsters to operate from overseas hubs in Cambodia and the Philippines where they work with local criminal networks. Korea’s supercharged crypto market South Korea has emerged as the world’s second-largest market for digital assets behind the United States. The Bank of Korea said the country’s five main exchanges held a combined $73 billion in assets at the end of 2024, with crypto trading volumes surpassing the stock market. The boom led regulators to roll out a landmark digital asset law in 2024 that tightened oversight of exchanges and strengthened investor protections. The measure expanded the earlier AML Act in 2021 and introduced a Travel Rule requiring registered exchanges…

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Filed under: News - @ November 7, 2025 5:28 am