Crypto exchange entities functioning in South Korea have reportedly succeeded in meeting the required deadline from the authority to become compliant with the “Travel Rule: with a few exceptions. 

Specifically, beginning March 25th, exchanges operating in South Korea will reportedly flag any crypto transfers with a value exceeding around $821, which will be limited to user-verified wallets, with a particular number of exchanges adopting their Anti-Money Laundering (AML) system.

The Travel Rule reportedly functions as a set of guidelines, introduced by the global financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF), built with a purpose of assisting governments in the tracking of the movement of virtual assets between virtual asset service providers (VASP), nominally crypto exchanges or digital asset issuers.

“The industry is now taking a step toward institutional acceptance and will work harder for mass adoption.” A source from a local centralized exchange spoke highly of the rule, believing it is a needed development for the nation’s crypto sphere. 

South Korea’s traders who managed to reel in  $45.9 billion in profit of crypto market value last year may have some challenges with the Travel Rule, finding out which exchanges they can transfer funds to and from.

Throughout the big four exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit, two Travel Rule networks are available. The network individually operates with a slight difference and requires international exchanges to follow its guidelines. 

Should the exchanges fail to abide by the guidelines, transfers will not be finalized. 

As revealed by the head of South Korea-based crypto venture capital Hashed, Simon Kim, said differences tend to cause confusion and frustration among domestic traders. 

“In a state where the infrastructure was not prepared, a regulatory body with low understanding was forced to push forward. It is expected that revisions will follow to an appropriate level with criticism from the Korean community.”