FSC Refers Suspects in Crypto Market Manipulation Case to Investigators

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has launched full-fledged sanctions to eradicate unfair trading in the crypto market by reporting individuals accused of manipulating prices on virtual asset exchanges, targeting the point when price change figures are recalculated. The FSC has resolved to refer suspects of virtual asset price manipulation to investigative agencies. An FSC investigation confirmed that measures to detect and prevent abnormal trading were insufficient at some virtual asset exchanges.

The suspects allegedly accumulated a specific virtual asset in advance and then concentrated hundreds of millions of won in high-priced buy orders at the moment the price change rate resets, causing prices to surge. This tactic exploited the phenomenon where general investors are drawn to top-ranking coins by price increase rate on virtual asset exchanges. Once the coin entered the top ranks, attracting follow-on buying from investors, the suspects immediately sold their holdings to realize profits. They reportedly began selling within an average of 10 seconds of initial buying pressure and typically disposed of their entire holdings within three minutes. The suspects maintained their top price-ranking position by placing additional high-priced buy orders if prices began to drop, and they repeatedly employed a pattern of artificially inflating prices of dozens of different assets sequentially, one per day.

In response, the exchange is implementing preventive measures including standardizing abnormal trading patterns, enhancing user guidance, and strengthening order restrictions for repeated abnormal trading, starting from the fourth quarter of 2025.