Bonanza Factory publishes South Korea’s first comprehensive report on “virtual-asset crime and money laundering”

Bonanza Factory, a blockchain and fintech company, said on the 20th that it has published the “2025 Virtual-Asset Crime and Money Laundering Report.”

Unlike existing virtual-asset crime reports that have largely been produced by overseas companies and global analytics firms, the report is South Korea’s first comprehensive publication that places the country’s virtual-asset crime environment and money-laundering risks at the center of its analysis. Rather than simply citing global crime trends, it organizes and presents crime types and fund flows actually observed domestically, structured using on-chain and off-chain data.

The report focuses on topics including △changes in the structure of global virtual-asset crime △the distinctive features of South Korea’s virtual-asset crime environment △the formation of money-laundering hubs in Southeast Asia, centered on Cambodia △and the future direction of institutional and technological responses. In particular, it addresses as key issues blind spots in existing KYC-based AML frameworks such as the Travel Rule, illegal OTC trades, and the structure of fund movements through broker networks.

It also provides a detailed analysis of crime infrastructure observed only in South Korea, including the so-called “coin account” market, in which real-name accounts and bank accounts are transferred or sold together. Pointing out that such structures are difficult to detect under existing regulatory frameworks, the report stresses that virtual-asset crime is becoming increasingly structured and organized.

Bonanza Factory said it planned the report as a reference document for an environment in which the on-chain migration of finance is gaining momentum, including the introduction of a won-denominated stablecoin and the expansion of tokenized securities (STO). It underscores the need to move away from responses centered on tracking individual addresses or ex-post regulation and instead control the structures and infrastructure that enable money laundering.

A Bonanza Factory official said, “Virtual assets are no longer an issue limited to a subset of investors, but an area directly tied to the national financial order and the broader range of livelihood-related crimes,” adding, “We hope this report will be used as reference material across the industry—including policy authorities, financial institutions, and investigative agencies—to prevent crimes that leverage virtual assets.”