Former South Korean financial regulators increasingly join crypto firms

The number of former senior officials from South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) taking jobs in the crypto industry has surged over the past two years, Segye Ilbo reported exclusively. While previously only one or two former FSS employees at grade four or above joined the sector annually, the number rose to five last year and has reached eight so far this year through November. Over the last five years, 16 such officials have moved to the country's two largest exchanges, Dunamu (nine) and Bithumb (seven). The newspaper noted that this trend coincides with the formalization of the crypto market's regulatory framework. The report suggests that competition to hire former officials intensified after the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect in July of last year, bringing the industry under official regulatory oversight.