South Korea's national legislature has passed a new bill that would strengthen oversight of local businesses moving crypto assets overseas.
According to a report from local news outlet Edaily, the National Assembly passed a new amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act during its plenary session on Friday.
With the amendment, entities seeking to transfer crypto to or from overseas as a business will soon be required to register with the Minister of Economy and Finance.
The amendment also set forth a new definition of the concept of a "virtual asset transfer business" — a crypto asset business that performs transfers between South Korea and foreign countries via sale, purchase, or exchange of crypto. This includes crypto exchanges and digital asset custody companies.
The South Korean government will utilize this legal update to monitor cross-border crypto flows in a more systematic manner.
Tighter regulations
South Korean authorities have recently been pushing stricter regulations on local crypto users.
The Financial Services Commission, South Korea's top financial regulator, recently announced it will expand Travel Rule requirements to cover all crypto transactions. Under current guidelines, the rule only mandates the collection of sender and recipient data for transfers exceeding 1 million won ($681.3).
Local crypto industry players have reportedly expressed dissent, arguing that the change could slow down transactions and ultimately result in losses in a highly volatile market environment.
Meanwhile, the country's tax authorities recently confirmed that they will impose a 22% tax on crypto asset gains of over 2.5 million won ($1,703) from January 2027 as planned. Crypto tax has been delayed multiple times in South Korea amid debate, where critics argue the lack of clarity and taxation infrastructure makes the 2027 adoption timeline premature.