Crypto Travel Rule to be Enforced from Friday

Starting Friday, traders and managers of virtual asset trades must share customer data for transactions exceeding one million won under a global standard known as "the Travel Rule."

The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit under the Financial Services Commission announced that the rule will apply immediately.

The Travel Rule, introduced in March of last year, is an asset-tracking regulation recommended by the global anti-money laundering agency, the Financial Action Task Force.

Similar regulation has long become a standard in the conventional finance sector through the SWIFT payment system. Korea's cryptocurrency sector is now the first in the world implement the procedure.

The rule requires crypto providers transmitting virtual assets to pass on customer information to the financial institution that is receiving the fund. This requirement applies to transactions exceeding one million won.

The customer data must be logged for five years, with violators facing a maximum 30 million won fine.