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| Dimension |
Pinned 🇬🇮 Gibraltar partly open Verified 2026-10-16
|
🇰🇷 South Korea
partly open
Verified 2026-08-15
|
|---|---|---|
| Licence type | GFSC permission under the Financial Services (DLT Providers and VAA Providers) Regulations 2020. The framework covers firms using DLT to store or transmit value belonging to others and, since 27 October 2025, VAA providers exchanging virtual assets for money or other virtual assets. It is a principles-based permission, not a MiCA category licence. | VASP registration (not a discretionary licence) under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information (the 'FTRA'/AML Reporting Act, amended effective 25 Mar 2021), which requires: (1) ISMS certification from KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency); (2) for KRW fiat on/off-ramp services, a bank-issued real-name verified account; plus fit-and-proper/AML program requirements. Layered on top since 19 July 2024 is the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users (VAUPA), which adds customer-asset segregation, insurance/reserve, and market-abuse rules but does not replace the underlying FTRA registration. |
| Regulator | Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC), with a dedicated DLT/innovation team running pre-application engagement; also the AML/CFT supervisor under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2015. | Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea's top financial policymaker; Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU, also referred to as FIU), an FSC-subordinate unit established 2001 under the FTRA that receives and processes VASP registrations and AML reporting; day-to-day supervision/inspection is delegated to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), which set up dedicated Virtual Asset Supervision/Investigation bureaus (announced 29 Nov 2023). FSC retains final sanctioning authority. |
| Capital requirement | Gibraltar capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. |
| Timeline to authorisation | Gibraltar timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. |
| Local substance | Gibraltar local substance is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea local substance is included in the £349 pass. |
| Application cost | Gibraltar application cost is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea application cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Ongoing cost | Gibraltar ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Passporting | Gibraltar passporting is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea passporting is included in the £349 pass. |
| MiCA CASPs approved | Gibraltar mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. |
| Key restrictions | Gibraltar key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. |
| Recent changes | LN 2025/254 expanded the 2020 Regulations to DLT Providers and VAA Providers from 27 October 2025, expressly capturing virtual-asset exchange arrangements. LN 2026/053 took effect on 26 March 2026 and introduced 30-day pre-notification and GFSC no-objection requirements for dividends by DLT and VAA providers. The wider DLT-regime overhaul signalled in February 2026 still had no published draft or Bill in the official legislation register through 16 October 2026. | The 20 Aug 2026 tightening is now identifiable as Act No. 21358 (amendment to the FTRA/AML Reporting Act), promulgated 19 Feb 2026 and taking effect 20 Aug 2026. It removes the KRW 1,000,000 Travel Rule de minimis threshold and separately expands VASP entry screening: adds a statutory definition of major shareholders, extends fit-and-proper disqualification checks to major shareholders, adds financial condition, social credibility, organisational, staffing and IT review factors, and authorises KoFIU to attach conditions when accepting a VASP report. Existing registered VASPs must re-report under the amended Article 7 within 3 months of the effective date (by approximately 20 Nov 2026). Separately, a Foreign Exchange Transactions Act amendment creating cross-border VASP registration passed 7 May 2026 (effective date disputed, 2 Aug vs 2 Dec 2026). The FSC's implementing-decree package (public comment 30 March to 11 May 2026) adds entry screening for VASP re-reports: a debt-ratio ceiling of 200 per cent excluding customer deposits, a three-year clean default record, fit-and-proper tests for officers and major shareholders, and AML staffing requirements; it removes the KRW 1,000,000 Travel Rule de minimis entirely and treats cross-border transfers of KRW 10,000,000 or more to foreign VASPs or private wallets as automatically suspicious. |
| Difficulty rating | Gibraltar difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. | South Korea difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. |
Informational only, not legal advice. A delta compares the sortable figure only (capital, timeline, cost, difficulty, passporting, approvals); it is not a judgement on overall suitability. Verify with qualified counsel before acting.
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