Korea’s 2027 crypto transfer rules: What foreign businesses need to know

South Korea is restricting crypto transfers out of its exchanges from 2027. Here is how to prepare

SOUTH KOREA HAS one of the most active retail crypto markets in the world. Between late 2026 and early 2027, it is narrowing, step by step, the routes by which crypto can leave its exchanges. Foreign companies that accept stablecoin payments from Korean partners, or pay Korean staff and freelancers in crypto, should know the timeline before it takes effect.

Four dates

Date	What changes
20 August 2026	Amended enforcement decree of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information takes effect. Screening of virtual asset service providers now extends to major shareholders
20 November 2026	Deadline for all existing virtual asset service providers to re-register under the stricter criteria
December 2026	Crypto sent to overseas exchanges becomes reportable to the Bank of Korea (Foreign Exchange Transactions Act amendment)
February 2027	The one-million-won Travel Rule threshold is removed, and transfers to self-hosted wallets and overseas exchanges are restricted

The biggest change: February 2027

Today, a Korean exchange shares sender and recipient information with another exchange only for transfers of one million won (about 1,000 Canadian dollars) or more. From February 2027 the threshold goes, and even small transfers will carry that information.

More important are transfers to self-hosted wallets and overseas exchanges. The amended decree makes transfers where the sender and the recipient are the same person, moving to one’s own wallet or own account, the default permitted route. A Korean customer sending payment directly from a Korean exchange to a foreign company’s wallet may fall outside that condition. Detailed criteria will be set by a notice from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, which had not been issued at the time of writing.

The original text of the rules with an English translation is available at https://tegongkr.com/en/korea-transfer-rules-text

What it means for foreign businesses in practice

• Receiving payment: customers sending directly from a Korean exchange may find transfers blocked or delayed. The key question is whether the receiving exchange exchanges Travel Rule data with the Korean one. If it does not, the withdrawal will not leave Korea at all.
• Paying out: when Korean staff or freelancers deposit crypto you paid them into a Korean exchange, the sender’s information is checked. If it is incomplete, the deposit is not credited and goes into a return process.
• Records: exchanges monitor transactions of ten million won or more for suspicious activity. Even for legitimate business, keep contracts and invoices on file.

What you can do now

1. Check whether the Korean exchange your counterparty uses and the exchange you use are connected for Travel Rule data.
2. For crypto-settled deals, state the wallet address and network in the contract and invoice.
3. Keep an alternative route, such as a bank transfer, in case crypto flows are blocked after February 2027.
4. Watch for the Financial Intelligence Unit notice. The detailed criteria for self-hosted wallets will be set there.

Why Korea is going this far

Korea’s market is dominated by retail investors, and routing funds through overseas exchanges and splitting transfers into small amounts have repeatedly been flagged as money laundering channels. The new rules remove the threshold so that splitting no longer helps, and limit exits from exchanges to the owner’s own wallets. For foreign businesses, the speed of implementation is a bigger variable than the rules themselves.

This article is for information only and is not legal advice.