South Korean regulatory agency warns: fraud profits exceeding 4 million magnesium will face life imprisonment

According to Decrypt, the South Korean financial regulatory agency has warned that criminals who profit over $4 million (approximately 5 billion Korean won) from cryptocurrency fraud will face life imprisonment.

The "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" enacted by South Korea in July 2024 includes a series of strict measures to prevent cryptocurrency crimes. Legislators say that the bill was partially inspired by the actions of South Korean cryptocurrency founder Do Kwon and the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Other measures stipulated in the Virtual Asset User Protection Law include imposing fines of three to five times the amount and up to one year in prison for illegal cryptocurrency related activities.

In addition, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean financial regulatory agency has warned that criminals who profit more than $4 million (approximately 5 billion Korean won) from cryptocurrency fraud will face life imprisonment.

The regulatory agency also added that when suspected illegal transactions are discovered, their organization will "concentrate all investigation resources under the principle of zero tolerance and take severe punishment measures". In addition to fines, the bill also contains other measures aimed at making Korean people use digital assets more safely.

For example, the bill requires virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to keep at least 80% of customer funds in cold wallets and must set up reserves to prevent cybersecurity vulnerabilities. In addition, cryptocurrency exchanges are also required to establish strong monitoring mechanisms to detect and report suspicious activities to financial authorities. Specifically, the law prohibits the use of insider information, manipulation of market prices, and unfair trading practices.