South Korean financial authorities are considering regulations to prevent the misuse of cryptocurrency 'mixers' used by illegal organizations as money laundering tools.
South Korea Considering Regulation of Cryptocurrency 'Blenders' to Prevent Money Laundering
The Financial Services Commission's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is considering introducing regulations on cryptocurrency mixers.
Although blenders are used by criminal groups for illegal money laundering, there are currently no separate enforcement regulations for blenders in South Korea.
Discussions have particularly focused on limiting transactions made by cryptocurrency businesses using mixers. “We agree with the perception that there is a high risk of money laundering through mixers,” an FIU official said.
Mixers are a technology that splits and mixes cryptocurrencies and redistributes them to multiple wallet addresses, making it difficult to track the investor's information and transaction history.
Scramblers initially emerged to protect the privacy of users with significant amounts of cash and assets, but they are now used by hackers and other criminal organizations to launder money.
“If you put cryptocurrency in a blender, it becomes difficult to track funds and track crimes,” an FIU official said.
The United States also took action, recognizing the need for mixer regulations.
Last October, the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced legislation regulating mixers as money laundering services under Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.
*This is not investment advice.
