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Over 400 South Korean officials disclose $9.8M in crypto holdings
South Korea’s Ethics Commission revealed that high-ranking public officials in the country hold an average of 35.1 million won ($24,000) in crypto assets.
On March 27, the country’s Ethics Commission for Government Officials reportedly disclosed that more than 20% of the surveyed public officials hold 14.4 billion won ($9.8 million) in crypto. This means 411 of the 2,047 officials subjected to the country’s disclosure requirements hold crypto assets.
The highest amount disclosed was 1.76 billion won ($1.2 million) belonging to Seoul City Councilor Kim Hye-young.
The officials held different crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), Luna Classic (LUNC) and others.
The disclosure of public officials’ crypto assets follows calls for transparency from its prime minister. In 2023, South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-soo said in a news conference that high-ranking government officials must include crypto in their property disclosures. The official said crypto should be treated similarly to other assets like precious metals. On May 25, 2023, South Korea passed a bill mandating public officials to include crypto in their public asset disclosures. The new system granted South Koreans access to the crypto holdings of at least 5,800 public officials starting in 2024. In June 2024, crypto exchanges in the country launched information provision systems to simplify the registration of information about crypto holdings. Related: South Korea temporarily lifts Upbit’s 3-month ban on serving new clients The new law was created in response to the controversy involving South Korean lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk, who was accused of liquidating crypto assets and concealing holdings of around $4.5 million before lawmakers in the country enforced the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “Travel Rule.” Kim departed from the Democratic Party at the height of the controversial lawsuit to relieve party members of the burden of the lawsuit. While prosecutors requested a six-month prison sentence for Kim, the lawmaker was eventually acquitted after a judge ruled that crypto assets were not subject to public disclosures at the time Kim made the transactions. Magazine: 3AC-related OX.FUN denies insolvency rumors, Bybit goes to war: Asia Express Asset manager Grayscale has filed to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding a diverse basket of spot cryptocurrencies, US regulatory filings show. On April 1, Grayscale submitted an S-3 regulatory filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is required to convert the non-listed fund to an ETF. The Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund, which was created in 2018 but is not yet exchange-traded, holds a crypto index portfolio comprising Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Cardano (ADA). As of April 1, the fund has more than $600 million in assets under management (AUM) and is only available to accredited investors (entities or individuals with high net worth), according to Grayscale’s website. The filing follows an Oct. 29 request by NYSE Arca, a US securities exchange, for permission to list the Grayscale index fund. Grayscale’s digital large cap fund holds a diverse basket of digital assets. Source: Grayscale Related: US crypto index ETFs off to slow start in first days since listing The filing underscores how ETF issuers are accelerating planned crypto product launches now that US President Donald Trump has led federal regulators to a softer stance on digital asset regulation. In December, the SEC greenlighted the first batch of mixed crypto index ETFs. However, the funds — sponsored by Hashdex and Fidelity — hold only Bitcoin and Ether. They have seen relatively modest inflows since debuting in February. In February, the SEC acknowledged more than a dozen exchange filings related to cryptocurrency ETFs, according to records. The filings address issues such as staking and options for existing funds as well as new fund proposals for altcoins such as SOL and XRP. According to industry analysts, crypto index ETFs are a main focus for Wall Street’s issuers after ETFs holding BTC and ETH debuted last year. “The next logical step is index ETFs because indices are efficient for investors — just like how people buy the S&P 500 in an ETF. This will be the same in crypto,” Katalin Tischhauser, head of investment research at crypto bank Sygnum, told Cointelegraph in August. Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025 Binance has discontinued spot trading pairs with Tether’s USDt in the European Economic Area (EEA) to comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has delisted spot trading pairs with several non-MiCA-compliant tokens in the EEA in line with a plan disclosed in early March, Cointelegraph has learned. While spot trading pairs in tokens such as USDt (USDT) are now delisted on Binance, users in the EEA can still custody the affected tokens and trade them in perpetual contracts. USDT is available for perpetual trading on Binance. Source: Binance According to a previous announcement by Binance, the spot trading pairs for non-MiCA-compliant tokens were to be delisted by March 31, which is in line with a local requirement to delist such tokens by the end of the first quarter of 2025. Binance is not the only crypto exchange delisting non-MiCA-compliant tokens for spot trading in the EEA. Other exchanges, such as Kraken, have delisted spot trading pairs in tokens such as USDT in the EEA after announcing plans in February. According to a notice on the Kraken website, the exchange restricted USDT for sell-only mode in the EEA on March 24. At the time of writing, the platform doesn’t allow its EEA users to buy the affected tokens. Kraken restricted USDT to sell-only mode in the EEA on March 24. Source: Kraken Among other non-MiCA-compliant tokens, Binance has also delisted spot trading pairs for Dai (DAI), First Digital USD (FDUSD), TrueUSD (TUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP), Anchored Euro (AEUR), TerraUSD (UST), TerraClassicUSD (USTC) and PAX Gold (PAXG). Related: Tether acquires 30% stake in Italian media company Be Water Kraken’s delisting roadmap in the EEA only included five tokens: USDT, PayPal USD (PYUSD), Tether EURt (EURT), TrueUSD and TerraClassicUSD. Binance and Kraken’s move to maintain custody services for non-MiCA-compliant tokens aligns with a previous communication from MiCA compliance supervisors. On March 5, a spokesperson for the ESMA told Cointelegraph that custody and transfer services for non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins do not violate the new European cryptocurrency laws. On the other hand, the same regulator previously advised European crypto asset service providers to halt all transactions involving the affected tokens after March 31, adding a certain extent of confusion over MiCA requirements. Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025 North Korean cyberwarfare attacks on the cryptocurrency industry are growing in sophistication and in the number of groups involved in such criminal activity, crypto firm Paradigm warns in report titled “Demystifying the North Korean Threat.” North Korea-originated cyberattacks range from assaults on exchanges and social engineering attempts to phishing attacks and complex supply chain hijacks, the report says. In some cases, the attacks take a year to play out, with North Korean operatives biding their time. The United Nations estimates that between 2017 and 2023, North Korean hackers have netted the country $3 billion. The total haul has skyrocketed in 2024 and this year, with successful attacks against crypto exchanges WazirX and Bybit, which together netted attackers around $1.7 billion. Paradigm writes that the North Korean organizations orchestrating these attacks number at least five: Lazarus Group, Spinout, AppleJeus, Dangerous Password, and TraitorTrader. There is also a coalition of North Korean operatives who pose as IT workers, infiltrating tech companies around the world. Related: Typosquatting in crypto, explained: How hackers exploit small mistakes Lazarus Group, the most well-known North Korean hacking team, is given credit for some of the most high-profile cyberattacks since 2016. According to Paradigm, the group hacked Sony and the Bank of Bangladesh in 2016 and helped orchestrate the WannaCry 2.0 ransomware attack in 2017. It has also taken aim at the cryptocurrency industry, sometimes to great effect. In 2017, the group hit two crypto exchanges — Youbit and Bithumb. In 2022, Lazarus Group exploited the Ronin Bridge, resulting in hundreds of millions in lost assets. And in 2025, it infamously stole $1.5 billion from Bybit, sending shock throughout the crypto community. The group may be behind some Solana memecoin scams. As Chainalysis and other organizations have explained, Lazarus Group also has predictable money laundering methods after securing a haul. It breaks up the stolen amount into smaller and smaller pieces, sending them to countless other wallets. It then swaps the more illiquid coins for those with higher liquidity and converts much of it to Bitcoin (BTC). After that, the group may sit on the stolen money for a long period of time until the attention from law enforcement dies down. The FBI has so far identified three alleged members of the Lazarus Group, accusing them of cybercrimes. In February 2021, the US Justice Department indicted two of those members for involvement in global cybercrimes. Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis Arthur Hayes, Murad’s Prediction For Meme Coins, AI & DeFi Coins For 2025 Expert Sees Bitcoin Dipping To $50K While Bullish Signs Persist Aptos Leverages Chainlink To Enhance Scalability and Data Access Bitcoin Could Rally to $80,000 on the Eve of US Elections Sonic Now ‘Golden Standard’ of Layer-2s After Scaling Transactions to 16,000+ per Second, Says Andre Cronje Institutional Investors Go All In on Crypto as 57% Plan to Boost Allocations as Bull Run Heats Up, Sygnum Survey Reveals Crypto’s Big Trump Gamble Is Risky Ripple-SEC Case Ends, But These 3 Rivals Could Jump 500xSouth Korean public officials disclosed crypto holdings
Lawmaker controversy spurred crypto disclosure laws
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Index ETFs in focus
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Delistings on other exchanges in EEA
ESMA doesn’t prohibit custody of non-MiCA-compliant tokens
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High-profile attacks and predictable laundering methods
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