Crypto.com Postpones South Korea Launch After Reports of Money Laundering Probe

Crypto.com said it’s postponing a planned launch in South Korea after local news outlet Segye Ilbo reported on Monday that the exchange platform was facing an “urgent on-site inspection” over money laundering concerns.

The report said that South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission had discovered “problems related to anti-money laundering data” submitted by the exchange and began an on-site inspection from that day.

“Crypto.com maintains the highest Anti-money Laundering (AML) standards in the industry. We will postpone our launch and take this opportunity to make sure Korean regulators understand our thorough policies, procedures, systems and controls, which have been reviewed and approved by major jurisdictions around the world,” the exchange said in a statement shared with CoinDesk.

The crypto exchange received approvals from South Korean regulators in 2022 and had planned to launch an app for retail users in the country on April 29.

The Block reported last week that Crypto.com had denied it had hit a roadblock in its planned launch.

“Korea is a difficult market for international exchanges to enter, but we are committed to working with regulators to advance the industry responsibly for Koreans. Crypto.com has not onboarded any new customers in Korea since acquiring OkBit,” a spokesperson for the exchange said in the statement.

"OkBit maintained approximately 900 customers at the point of acquisition by Crypto.com, and OkBit has never been cited for any AML infractions. Since the acquisition, existing OkBit customer access has been limited to withdrawals.”