Korbit fined $1.9 million for anti money-laundering, customer verification breaches

• Korbit, a South Korean crypto exchange, was fined $1.9 million for anti-money laundering and customer verification breaches.
• The Financial Intelligence Unit said it found thousands of violations during an inspection in October 2024.
• Mirae Asset is in talks to acquire a majority stake in Korbit for up to $98 million.

Korbit, the South Korean crypto exchange in talks to be bought by Mirae Asset, was fined 2.73 billion won ($1.9 million) by the country's regulator for multiple anti money-laundering and customer verification breaches.

The Financial Intelligence Unit said the exchange violated key provisions of the country’s Special Financial Transactions Act, including lapses in customer due-diligence and transaction restrictions. In addition to the fine, it imposed an institutional warning and issued personal disciplinary measures against senior Korbit executives, it said Wednesday.

The enforcement action comes as Mirae Asset, a Seoul-based financial group with no prior involvement in crypto-related businesses, holds talks to acquire a majority stake in Korbit in a deal reported to be worth as much as $98 million.

The FIU also " decided to impose sanctions on related executives and employees, including a warning to the CEO and a reprimand to the person responsible for reporting,” the regulator's notice said.

The FIU said it conducted an on-site inspection of Korbit in October 2024 and found thousands of anti money-laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) verification violations.

It noted that the enforcement action is part of its efforts in “strengthening anti-money laundering capabilities and legal compliance systems of businesses so that the virtual asset market can grow with public trust”. In November, the FIU issued Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, South Korea's largest crypto exchange, a $25 million fine and other sanctions for similar violations.

• KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
• This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
• Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
• Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
• Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

• South Korea's Digital Asset Basic Act is delayed due to disagreements over stablecoin issuance authority.
• The Bank of Korea insists only banks with 51% ownership should issue stablecoins, while the Financial Services Commission warns this could hinder innovation.
• The deadlock may delay the bill's passage until January, with full implementation unlikely before 2026.

Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.