South Korea Refers 30 Cryptocurrency Market Manipulation Cases to Prosecutors, Considers Account Freeze Measures

According to South Korea's Financial Services Commission, the regulator has referred approximately 30 cases of unfair cryptocurrency trading to prosecutors over the past two years since implementation of the Virtual Asset Users Protection Act. The FSC investigated over 40 cases total, with most involving market manipulation schemes such as pump-and-dump tactics timed to price reset points and artificial price inflation exploiting exchange withdrawal restrictions.

The average illegal gains per case reached approximately 1.4 billion Korean won, with 8 cases involving gains of 500 million to 5 billion won and 1 case exceeding 5 billion won. A total of 25 suspects were involved, targeting an average of 8 cryptocurrency assets per case. The FSC plans to introduce account-freeze measures and whistleblower reward programs in its next legislative phase to enhance market monitoring and early violation detection.