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The South Korean National Police Agency has released data demonstrating a dramatic shift in the crime landscape related to digital assets. In the first half of 2026, 1,214 cases of money laundering involving cryptocurrencies were recorded. This is an order of magnitude higher than in the entire previous year, 2025, when only eight such incidents were recorded. This represents a colossal increase of 152 times. Money laundering now accounts for the overwhelming majority (79.4%) of all detected crypto-related crimes. Previously, in 2025, investment fraud was the leading method (92%), but this category has now dropped to the top spot.

The "Hwanchigi" method remains the primary method for transferring illegal funds abroad. It allows cryptocurrency to be moved across the border, bypassing South Korea's official banking system. Due to the high speed of transactions and the lack of oversight by financial institutions, this scheme is virtually impenetrable. Analysts from Crystal Intelligence claim that from 2021 to August 2025, the vast majority of illicit crypto flows were processed through "Hwanchigi." Recent police reports confirm that this method has become significantly more active this year.

For several years now, Korean authorities have been consistently strengthening controls against illegal crypto transactions. Both law enforcement and financial regulators are actively involved in the fight against them. However, statistics clearly demonstrate that criminal organizations are adapting to new conditions much faster than the state system can respond to emerging threats. The criminal infrastructure is growing and scaling faster than the capabilities of law enforcement.

Tether's stablecoin, USDT, remains the preferred tool for laundering criminal proceeds. According to law enforcement, stablecoins generally dominate the structure of illegal crypto transactions worldwide. Criminal groups in South Korea use USDT to convert proceeds from drug trafficking, gambling, and phishing into US dollars. The funds are then transferred through foreign exchanges outside the country's jurisdiction, significantly complicating their freezing and recovery.

The gap between the number of crimes detected and the actual legal consequences for those found guilty is particularly alarming. In the first half of 2026, police made only 18 arrests for money laundering through cryptocurrency. By comparison, in all of 2023, with a much smaller number of reported cases, 42 people were arrested. This means that while the number of detected cases has increased nearly 100-fold, the number of arrests has decreased by more than half.

This trend is confirmed by the results of high-profile operations in recent months. In June 2026, Seoul Metropolitan Police charged 23 individuals involved in a criminal network linked to a Cambodian phishing group. $431,000 in illicit proceeds were seized in this case. The alleged mastermind of the scheme remains on Interpol's international wanted list, but has not been apprehended.

In July 2026, investigators managed to track down and freeze $12 million in XRP and USDT. These funds were stolen from 71 investors using a fake staking website impersonating the Flare Network platform. The perpetrators managed to withdraw $8.6 million, part of which was subsequently frozen. However, arrests in this case lag significantly behind measures to freeze digital assets, highlighting a systemic problem with holding perpetrators accountable.

In the first six months of 2026, the South Korean Customs Service confiscated 7.2 trillion won (approximately $4.92 billion) in cases of illegal foreign exchange transactions. A significant portion of these violations involved export companies that accepted cryptocurrency in violation of revenue repatriation regulations. More than 90% of the 9.5 trillion won transferred for prosecution for crypto-related crimes passed through unlicensed channels. Regulated banks were not involved in these schemes.

The technical capabilities of the South Korean authorities allow them to track the movement of funds in near real time. Law enforcement agencies have demonstrated high efficiency in identifying suspicious transactions and freezing assets. However, bringing cases to trial and securing convictions remains a task that the system is significantly less capable of addressing. This imbalance between monitoring and prosecution creates conditions for further growth of criminal activity in the cryptosphere.