South Korea to Require Daily Reporting of Cross-Border Digital Asset Transfers
Key Facts
South Korea plans to bring cross-border virtual asset transfers into the Bank of Korea’s daily reporting system from 3 December 2026, under implementing amendments to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. The requirement covers domestic virtual asset service providers, according to a draft guide cited by BusinessKorea, while the Ministry of Finance and Economy prepares to issue regulations detailing how the legal amendment will be applied. The ministry says the framework is intended to prevent circumvention of foreign exchange rules and curb illegal transactions involving virtual assets. The move comes as the central bank reviews the format and scope of monthly reports in consultation with operators and relevant authorities. The expected start date remains subject to the completion of regulatory and legislative reviews and government deliberations.
According to the ministry, transfer activity covers the movement of assets between domestic and overseas service providers, as well as transfers from a domestic service provider to a personal wallet. The press draft says completed transfers involving flows to or from overseas must be reported to the Bank of Korea on the same day, with details due by 11 a.m. the following day. This schedule imposes a daily reporting obligation on domestic service providers for cross-border transactions. Direct transfers between two personal wallets without going through a service provider are excluded from the reporting described in clarifications to the rule’s scope. The reporting scope is therefore tied to the presence of a service provider in the transfer path, whether the other party is an overseas provider or a personal wallet.
The required data go beyond the type, quantity and value of the asset to include the transaction date and time, fees, the identities of the sender and recipient, and transaction details, according to information sources cited about the draft. The data also include resident registration numbers, while asset values are converted into won for reporting purposes, according to clarifications from the press source. Alongside daily records, the Bank of Korea guide under review includes monthly reports on balances and flows. The bank said on 23 October that it was discussing the final reporting format with virtual asset service providers and relevant institutions. This means some details of the monthly disclosures remain under consultation before they are finalized.
The proposed regulations provide for submitting the information to the Bank of Korea’s Foreign Exchange Information System, where it will be made available to other government and supervisory agencies. The ministry said the National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Financial Supervisory Service and Financial Intelligence Unit will share and use the information. The ministry links this sharing to its aim of strengthening the integrity of foreign exchange transactions by curbing rule circumvention and illegal transactions involving virtual assets. This places transfer data within an institutional system involving the central bank and tax, customs and supervisory authorities. The ministry said the amendment is intended to "help prevent circumvention of foreign exchange regulations and illegal transactions involving virtual assets."
The proposed monthly reports have prompted debate over the scope of personal data collection, particularly whether they would cover users who previously made an overseas transfer. Lawmaker Park Soo-young objected to the broad collection of information on users, their assets and transactions, saying, "Collecting all information on virtual asset users simply because they have used an overseas transfer transaction even once is excessive collection of personal information." The objection concerns an initial plan that included monthly balance data, details whose content and scope the Bank of Korea is still reviewing. The bank said on 23 October that it was consulting service providers and relevant institutions to draw up the final version. The content of the guide and the scope of the reports are expected to be decided in November, ahead of the expected effective date of 3 December 2026.