The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea announced a comprehensive strengthening of its regulation of the local cryptocurrency market following a shocking incident of Bitcoin misdistribution. The agency stated that it will conduct special investigations into “high-risk” behaviors that disrupt market order and upgrade its technological monitoring system to prevent similar events from happening again.
Last week, a major Korean crypto platform experienced a serious system error during a promotional campaign, resulting in some users being mistakenly credited with at least 2,000 Bitcoins instead of the originally small rewards. At the time of the incident, based on the day’s price, the involved amount was approximately $44 billion. After the news broke, the Bitcoin price on that platform temporarily dropped about 30% below the global average, and some recipients quickly attempted to sell. Within about 35 minutes of detecting the anomaly, the platform restricted trading and withdrawals for 695 related accounts.
FSS pointed out that this incident exposed vulnerabilities in the virtual asset trading system’s internal controls, risk management logic, and IT security. If subsequent investigations find management or technical violations, regulators do not rule out initiating on-site inspections.
Under the new regulatory framework, the FSS will focus on cracking down on various market irregularities, including so-called “whales” manipulating prices through large transactions, creating liquidity illusions by suspending deposits or withdrawals, and using social media to spread misleading information for coordinated price manipulation. Additionally, regulators plan to develop tools capable of automatically detecting abnormal trading patterns on a second- or minute-level basis and introduce AI-based text analysis systems to identify potential manipulation clues.
Furthermore, the FSS also stated that it will impose higher punitive fines for IT security incidents across the entire financial industry and strengthen the accountability mechanisms for CEOs and Chief Information Security Officers. This change is expected to have a direct impact on crypto asset platforms.
Regulators also confirmed the establishment of a dedicated team to advance the drafting of the “Basic Digital Asset Act,” which will extend South Korea’s digital asset governance into a more comprehensive compliance framework.
These measures are also aligned with President Lee Jae-myung’s policy direction to combat “brutal financial behaviors,” marking a new, stricter phase in South Korea’s regulation of digital assets and market order maintenance.
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to
Disclaimer.
Related Articles
MicroStrategy Stock Rallies as Bitcoin Breaks $78K, Unrealized Gains Return to $1.37B
MicroStrategy's stock surged 13.83% as Bitcoin reclaimed $78,000, returning the company to an unrealized profit of $1.37 billion. The rise follows easing tensions in the Middle East and a broader rally in risk assets, despite criticism of its preferred stock.
GateNews26m ago
Morgan Stanley Purchases 177.76 BTC Worth $13.75 Million
Gate News message, Morgan Stanley bought 177.76 BTC worth $13.75M three hours ago. The firm now holds 1,347.54 BTC worth $103.94M in total.
GateNews3h ago
BTC fell below 77000 USDT
Gate News bot message, Gate quotes show that BTC fell below 77000 USDT, trading at 76961.6 USDT.
CryptoRadar4h ago
NYSE Welcomes Morgan Stanley’s MSBT Launch as First Spot Bitcoin ETF Issued by a Major US Bank
Bank-backed bitcoin ETFs are accelerating institutional adoption and strengthening market credibility. The NYSE marked a new milestone as Morgan Stanley Investment Management rang the closing bell and celebrated the launch of MSBT, which the NYSE described as the first spot bitcoin ETF by a major
Coinpedia7h ago
BTC falls 0.49% in 15 minutes: fragile long leverage and active sell-off pressure resonate to weigh on the short term
From 18:00 to 18:15 (UTC) on 2026-04-17, the BTC price fluctuated and trended downward within the 77097.4 to 77573.2 USDT range. Over these 15 minutes, the return rate recorded -0.49%, and the amplitude reached 0.61%. During this period, market trading was active; short-term volatility was amplified, and trading attention increased significantly. The main driver behind this abnormal move is that the overall leverage structure is bearish and long positions are fragile. At present, the BTC perpetual contract funding rate has remained negative for 11 consecutive days, indicating that the bears have the upper hand in the market. In addition, futures open interest (OI) is about 628.3 billion USDT, which is at a historical high. During the anomaly window, trading volume increased noticeably. On-chain data shows large amounts of BTC flowing from long-term holder addresses to exchanges, suggesting that active sell orders may have triggered longs to passively reduce positions, amplifying downward price pressure. Moreover, institutional positioning enthusiasm in the mainstream contract market has cooled off; liquidity boundaries have tightened, causing large-trade activity to have an amplified effect on market volatility. In the options market, implied volatility rose to 39.81%, increasing demand for downside protection and reflecting a defensive posture among market participants. Macro-environment volatility and some capital flowing into safe-haven assets, together with the recent regulatory uncertainty-related historical events, reinforced the move, pushing overall market risk appetite lower. Current BTC leverage risks still remain. If, in the future, there are concentrated sell-offs, volatility may be further amplified. It is recommended to continue monitoring sustained high OI levels, the persistence of negative funding rates, and on-chain transfers of large amounts of funds, and to stay alert for whale behavior and any disruptions to market sentiment caused by macro-policy developments. For subsequent price action, please watch key support levels, institutional and whale on-chain moves, and relevant global market news, and guard against short-term risks.
GateNews9h ago
