South Korea tightens rules on cryptocurrency withdrawal delay exemptions to combat telecom fraud.

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced it will tighten exemption rules for cryptocurrency exchange withdrawal delay systems. The FSC pointed out that previously, exchanges set their own exemption standards without a unified minimum requirement, allowing criminals to quickly transfer funds by meeting simple conditions such as account age or trading history. The FSC, in conjunction with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), has developed a unified framework requiring exchanges to comprehensively consider factors such as trading frequency, account history, and deposit/withdrawal amounts when assessing whether users qualify for exemptions. Between June and September 2025, accounts granted withdrawal delay exemptions accounted for 59% of fraudulent accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges, representing 75.5% of related losses. The FSC stated that simulation tests show the proportion of users eligible for exemptions will drop to approximately 1% under the new rules. The FSC will also strengthen oversight of exempted users through regular audits, verification of fund sources, and monitoring of suspicious withdrawal activities. Furthermore, on Tuesday, the FSC required exchanges to reconcile their internal ledgers with actual asset holdings every five minutes, a directive related to an internal control review concerning the Bithumb Bitcoin payment error incident.