In a significant move to combat voice phishing scams, South Korea's financial regulatory bodies have mandated that all domestic cryptocurrency exchanges implement a unified, stringent system for handling withdrawal delays. This measure aims to counter the rising tide of phishing attacks that exploit the speed of transactions.
According to local news sources, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service have introduced these new rules, thereby eliminating the discretionary powers previously held by exchanges to waive holding periods for users. Historically, platforms had set their own rules for exceptions to facilitate faster trading, but fraudsters had learned to exploit these rules, coaching their victims on how to bypass them.
Voice phishing scams typically involve convincing victims to quickly convert cash into cryptocurrency and transfer it within minutes. Even brief delays can disrupt these scams by giving victims time to reconsider or allowing alerts to be raised before funds are withdrawn. Under the new framework, exchanges are required to apply uniform criteria for evaluating withdrawal exceptions, including account history, transaction patterns, and abrupt changes in user behavior. Officials anticipate that less than 1% of users will be eligible for immediate withdrawals.
Additionally, platforms are obligated to enhance identity verification processes and closely monitor fund movements. This development marks a transition from industry-driven safeguards to a standardized national approach.
In contrast, markets such as the U.S. and Europe have more varied withdrawal hold practices, with individual firms setting their own policies, and some exchanges even allowing users to set personal timelocks to prevent unauthorized withdrawals. At the time of inquiry, the South Korean regulators had not provided further commentary on the matter.