Key Highlights
- The Financial Intelligence Unit has imposed a three-month partial business suspension along with a penalty of 5.2 billion won against Coinone.
- The action has been taken for non-compliance with various aspects of the unit’s anti-money laundering regulations.
South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinone has received a three-month partial business suspension along with a penalty of 5.2 billion won ($3.5 million) for non-compliance with various aspects of the financial intelligence unit’s anti-money laundering regulations.
According to a local report, the penalties follow an inspection by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) conducted between April and May 2025. The investigation found that Coinone violated the Specific Financial Information Act by enabling the transfer of 10,113 virtual assets through 16 foreign virtual asset service providers that were not registered under the law.
The exchanges also reported around 40,000 instances of client verification violations, as well as around 30,000 instances where there was a failure to abide by transaction restrictions.
Imposing three-month partial ban
The partial sanction will remain in force for three months, starting April 29, 2026, until July 28, 2026. During this period, no customer will be allowed to make virtual asset transactions from any other external sources.
This restriction will not affect existing users, who will continue making their trades, along with their KRW deposits and withdrawals. Coinone CEO Cha Myung-hoon has also received an official warning.
The FIU will allow the exchange 10 days to submit opinions before finalizing the measures. Coinone responded by saying that they take the sanctions very seriously and will work quickly to rectify the issues. They have also stated that their board will be looking into filing a lawsuit against the decision.
Ownership sale talks
In a separate development reported in January 2026, Coinone considered selling either part or the entire 53.44% ownership share held by Chairman Cha Myung-hoon, of which 19.14% is his own shareholding, while another 34.3% is through The One Group.
Com2uS owns 38.42%. These developments were driven by lower book values, valued at 75.2 billion won (a drop of 22.64%), and competition from Upbit and Bithumb.
What it means
Penalties faced by Coinone, along with previously revealed plans for selling stakes, clearly show that the situation is becoming more difficult from the regulatory and financial sides within South Korea’s cryptocurrency environment.
With ongoing efforts being made towards enforcing strict AML rules and setting limits on ownership, exchanges should focus on building adequate infrastructure and establishing relevant partnerships in order to prevent any trouble.
Although the partial ban poses little threat to current users of the exchange, it is definitely a warning to the community. It is vital to be transparent and careful about verifying customers, as it may determine Coinone’s future position in the market.
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