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| Dimension |
Pinned 🇰🇷 South Korea partly open Verified 2026-07-03
|
🇹🇭 Thailand
partly open
Verified 2026-07-03
|
|---|---|---|
| Licence type | 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. | Digital Asset Business licence under the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018), as amended (most significantly by an April 2025 amendment extending extraterritorial scope). Distinct categories: Digital Asset Exchange, Digital Asset Broker, Digital Asset Dealer, ICO Portal, and Digital Asset Fund Manager, each with its own capital tier and asset-keeping vs. non-asset-keeping sub-conditions. |
| Regulator | 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. | Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thailand is the primary licensing/supervisory authority; the Ministry of Finance formally grants the licence on SEC recommendation. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) holds blocking powers over unlicensed platforms (added by the 2025 amendment). The Bank of Thailand has a consultative role for certain payment-related and stablecoin aspects. |
| Capital requirement | South Korea capital requirement is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand capital requirement is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| Timeline to authorisation | South Korea timeline to authorisation is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand timeline to authorisation is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| Local substance | South Korea local substance is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand local substance is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| Application cost | South Korea application cost is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand application cost is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| Ongoing cost | South Korea ongoing cost is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand ongoing cost is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| Passporting | South Korea passporting is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand passporting is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| MiCA CASPs approved | South Korea mica casps approved is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand mica casps approved is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| Key restrictions | South Korea key restrictions is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand key restrictions is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. |
| Recent changes | 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). | April 2025: extraterritorial scope amendment plus MDES no-court-order blocking powers, the biggest regulatory shift in this period. 1 November 2024: new capital requirement notification (KorThor. 28/2567) took effect, phased to full compliance by 1 November 2025. May-June 2025: first major enforcement wave blocking 5 offshore exchanges. Early 2026: criminal complaints filed against local/overseas joint-operation arrangements, signaling a shift from blocking to prosecution. ERX rebranded as KuCoin Thailand in 2025 following acquisition by KuCoin, illustrating global exchanges entering via licensed local subsidiaries. |
| Difficulty rating | South Korea difficulty rating is locked. Unlock with the £349 pass. | Thailand difficulty rating is locked. Unlock with 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.