Coins moved from Korean exchanges to overseas exchanges came to KRW 87.3 trillion (about $62 billion) in the second half of 2025, counting only transfers of KRW 1 million (about $710) or more at a time. That is more than four times the KRW 19.7 trillion (about $14 billion) of the first half of 2023. A rule requiring those moves to be reported to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the way bank wires abroad are, through its foreign exchange computer network (the system that collects records of money moving in and out of the country), does not start until Dec. 3.
In parliamentary audit material reported on Oct. 23, the BOK said it will draft, together with the government by year-end, an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act (the foreign exchange law) that would treat stablecoins (coins pegged to a currency value such as $1) as a "means of payment" and more. The common reading is "stablecoins are being recognized as official money." But the point lies elsewhere. Under this plan, coins that have been slipping out beyond the banks would come under the same reporting rules as money wired abroad.
- Why doesn't the foreign exchange law treat coins as "money" today?
The law lists government notes, bank notes, minted coins, checks, postal money orders, letters of credit and the like as means of payment, and sets rules for using them to pay someone abroad. Stablecoins are not on that list.
If you pay an overseas shop by bank transfer, the bank keeps a record. Send the same amount in a stablecoin and the record exists only on the blockchain. In a written statement to the National Assembly reported in October 2025, the BOK worried that dollar stablecoins could be used in cross-border deals "without going through reporting and other procedures under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act."
- What changes first on Dec. 3 is coins that pass through an exchange
The revised foreign exchange law, promulgated June 2, takes effect Dec. 3. It defines an exchange's moving of coins out of the country as "virtual asset transfer business" and requires exchanges to register it with the Ministry of Economy and Finance. A draft enforcement decree announced for public comment on Oct. 7 covers transfers both between Korean and overseas exchanges and between Korean exchanges and personal wallets (wallets that users manage themselves).
Under the BOK's draft reporting rules, exchanges report the day's coin outflows and inflows to the BOK by 11 a.m. the next business day. The report includes the time sent, coin type and quantity, the amount converted to won, fees, and information on the sender and recipient. Under the draft, if you send KRW 10 million (about $7,100) of stablecoins from a Korean exchange to an overseas exchange, the details reach the BOK's computer network by 11 a.m. the next business day. The data is shared with the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit.
- The gap that remains is transfers between personal wallets
Coins sent directly between personal wallets, with no business in the middle, are not covered by reporting. With no exchange involved, no one is there to report. The BOK also explained that illicit transfers are easy because of the nature of coins, which can move abroad without passing through a financial institution, because of anonymity technology such as mixers (tools that shuffle the path of coins to make them hard to trace), and because of gaps in the regulation of personal wallets.
The December reports are a record that coins left an exchange. It is like a toll road: cars that pass through a tollgate are recorded, but cars that turn onto a side road are not. The difference is that with coins, anyone with a single wallet can build that side road. Not being subject to reporting does not mean tracing is impossible, though.
- What changes if stablecoins become a "means of payment"?
Stablecoins would go in the same category as banknotes and checks. A bill that People Power Party Rep. Park Sung-hoon said in October 2025 he would introduce (we could not confirm whether it was actually filed or where it stands in review) would likewise add stablecoins to the means of payment in the law's definitions and apply the foreign exchange law to stablecoins specified by presidential decree.
The law says that when someone settles a payment without going through an authorized foreign exchange institution such as a bank (a place licensed to handle overseas transfers and payments), the person paying must report to the Ministry of Economy and Finance in advance, except in cases set by presidential decree. BITPRESS's reading is that once stablecoins are a means of payment, sending payment abroad through a personal wallet could fall under this rule. Unlike the December system, which leaves reporting to exchanges, the rules for money would attach to the coin itself. But the legal definition, the deals it would apply to, and who must report and how have not been released yet.
- How many investors have sent coins abroad?
From July 19, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2026, 1,272,878 users at Korea's five major exchanges have a record of cross-border coin transfers. The BOK draft also includes a plan to receive monthly reports of each user's month-end holdings and balances and of inflows and outflows during the month. The BOK is considering narrowing the targets and scope to reflect feedback from businesses, and will finalize the rules in November.
Put simply, if you send coins abroad through a Korean exchange, from December those moves will be reported to the BOK.
- BITPRESS Insight
Putting stablecoins in the means of payment is closer to "treating them as money" than to "recognizing" them. Once they are treated as money, the rules for money, records and reporting, come with it. The direction is not toward making coins easier to use, but toward leaving more traces when they go abroad.
If the December system catches "coins leaving through exchanges," adding stablecoins to the means of payment targets "coins used for overseas payments." Someone moving coins to their own overseas exchange account and someone paying a foreign bill in stablecoins will meet different rules going forward.
For coins going abroad, ask which route they take, and whether it is a simple transfer or an overseas payment. The first leaves a record through exchange reporting; the second may come with a report you file yourself.
Sources
https://www.digitalasset.works/news/articleView.html?idxno=43792
https://www.tokenpost.kr/news/policy/426392
https://www.law.go.kr/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=286353&efYd=20261203
https://www.sedaily.com/article/20105419
https://www.ajunews.com/view/20261007084754445
https://news.mtn.co.kr/news-detail/2026100710580649909
https://news.tf.co.kr/read/economy/2366019.htm
https://v.daum.net/v/20251028055251626
https://www.blockmedia.co.kr/archives/997134
Glossary
Stablecoin — A coin designed so its price barely moves, because it is pegged to a currency value such as $1.
Means of payment — The list of things the foreign exchange law treats as "money," including banknotes, coins, checks and letters of credit.
Foreign exchange computer network — The Bank of Korea's computer system that collects records of money moving in and out of the country.
Virtual asset transfer business — An exchange's business of moving coins to exchanges or personal wallets outside the country, which must be registered from Dec. 3.
Personal wallet — A coin wallet that users manage themselves, rather than one held by an exchange.
Parliamentary audit — An annual review in which South Korea's National Assembly questions government bodies such as the Bank of Korea.
BITPRESS articles are information to help your investment decisions, not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock or coin. Investment decisions and their results are your own responsibility.
