South Korean regulator seeks bank-level authority over crypto exchanges

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has asked the National Assembly to grant it authority to directly supervise crypto exchanges at the same level as banks, The Korea Economic Daily reported. The proposal calls for regulating virtual asset service providers on par with traditional financial firms in areas including internal controls, IT systems, user protection, and unfair trade practices. The FSS also expressed its intent to join a consultative body on stablecoins. The move is seen as an effort to establish a much stronger supervisory and sanctioning framework to bring the virtual asset market into the regulatory fold.