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South Korea’s FIU fined Korbit $1.9 million for weak AML and KYC rules on December 31, 2025.
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Main problems: 22,000 unverified users, dealing with unregistered foreign platforms and poor risk controls.
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Penalties include a fine, a warning to exchange and the CEO, after Upbit’s largest fine.
from South Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) found crypto exchange Korbit in violation of the Specific Financial Reporting Act.
The latest find comes a few months later from South Korea The largest exchange, Upbit, was found guilty of similar AML and user verification violations.
The FIU imposed an institutional warning and a fine of KRW 2.73 billion (about $1.88 billion) on the Korbit exchange for its operational violations.
The regulator issued a warning to the CEO and a reprimand to the reporting officer.
The FIU highlighted several failures in customer due diligence, transaction restrictionsdealings with unreported overseas VASPs and AML risk assessments for NFTs.
The FIU identified multiple breaches AML/KYC rules and the Specific Financial Information Law:
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Approximately 22,000 cases where trading was permitted without completing the required customer identification procedures.
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Improper handling of transaction limits and dealings with unregistered overseas Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). This included 19 cryptocurrency transactions with three undeclared foreigners VASP.
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655 offenses related to inadequate money laundering risk assessments, especially for new business areas such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
South Korea’s FIU, which is part of the Financial Services Commission, has been conducting on-site inspections of major cryptocurrency exchanges to enforce anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.
quill he was given more than 10 days to respond before the fines were concluded.
These inspections follow a first-in, first-out order based on exchange registration dates, starting with Upbit operator Dunamu in August 2024, followed by Korbit in October 2024. GOPAX in December 2024, Bithumb in March 2025 and Coinone in April 2025.
The last enforcement action follows that of the regulator November fines and enforcement actions of the nation’s leading crypto exchange.
The FIU imposed a fine of KRW 35.2 billion (about $25 million) for widespread AML and KYC breaches.
The specific issues include approximately 5.3 million instances of failing to properly verify customer identities and 15 instances of unreported suspicious transactions.
