Koreans – Earlybirds Invest

US prosecutors have charged four North Korean citizens with wire fraud and money laundering after they allegedly pretended to be remote IT workers to steal nearly $1 million in crypto.

The charges were filed in the state of Georgia and involve two blockchain companies based in the US and Serbia.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) identified the suspects as Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju, and Chang Nam Il. The group reportedly used fake and stolen IDs to hide that they were North Korean citizens.

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They started operating from the United Arab Emirates in 2019 before later getting jobs at a blockchain startup in Atlanta and a crypto firm in Serbia between December 2020 and May 2021.

Kim and Jong are accused of using fake documents, including false identification, to secure employment. US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said this method poses a risk for companies that rely on remote workers, as it can be difficult to confirm someone’s true identity.

After getting access to internal systems, the suspects carried out two separate thefts. In February 2022, Jong allegedly stole around $175,000 in cryptocurrency. A month later, Kim exploited smart contract code to take another $740,000.

The stolen money was then moved through mixing services and sent to exchange accounts controlled by Kang and Chang. These accounts were set up using fake Malaysian IDs, investigators said.

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According to John A. Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for national security, the stolen funds were meant to help North Korea avoid sanctions and support its banned weapons programs.

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The report, carried out by the Hana Financial Research Institute, a research firm specializing in financial markets and economic trends, analyzes current investor tendencies and future intentions.

Of the participants in the survey, 27% reported that they own crypto, with the average investment being around $10 million won (just shy of $7.4k), which accounts for 14% of their portfolios.

Adoption is Growing

The median age for the people included in this review is between 30 and 40. Men tend to be more active in the investing space, but the findings indicate that there has been a steady increase in females participating in the crypto space since about the start of 2024.

The main reasons for investing tend to be psychological (FOMO), but the authors do note a shift from that tendency from 57% to 34%, as compared with previous surveys.

Other data sets include new investors in the space, growth potential, and portfolio diversification.

The vast majority of investors tend to be in Bitcoin (89%), but the report notes a shift to other cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins, as trading experience rises.

A common challenge for respondents appears to be related to exchanges, as not many native banks work with them. If regulations become more favorable, “7 out of 10 investors will choose a residential bank, rather than a new bank with preferential benefits”, which paints a very clear picture of current trader sentiment.

The main focus around picking an exchange also seems to be centering on how easy it will be to connect to a bank, rather than other considerations such as trading volume, convenience, and user experience.

Roughly 43% of the survey participants indicated high intent to continue investing in crypto assets in the future, with an additional 28% showing moderate such. About every 7 out of 10 show above-average interest. Concerns about volatility remain high (56%), as do fears of bankrupt exchanges (61%) and the risk of fraud (61%). Crypto investments would be viewed more positively if more traditional finance (TradFi) companies participated (42%) and more legal frameworks were established (35%), further data shows.

Interestingly enough, about 20% of South Korean officials also hold crypto, according to another recent survey covered by CryptoPotato earlier this year.

Current Crypto Landscape in Korea

Along with increased public interest, officials in Korea seem to be following suit and adopting crypto more widely.

Parataxis Holdings (an American investment firm) recently announced a controlling 25 billion won ($18.3M) stake in a South Korean biotech company, with plans to be the first company in the country to create a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.

Additionally, the Deputy Chief of the Bank of Korea (BOK) noted that it would be “desirable for them to start a gradual introduction to stablecoins”.

Moreover, South Korea appears to be the best-performing market in Asia currently. The benchmark Kospi Composite Index is up almost 30% this year, to a near four-year high, with some individual stocks seeing jumps of 70%-80%.

This has all likely been a cascade of events following the recent election of the crypto-friendly President, Lee Jae-myung.

The country has quietly become one of the most flourishing crypto markets, with a large part of the population, as noted, investing in digital assets. The country has seen some 57 trillion won ($42 billion) in stablecoin trades for this year alone, only pushing BOK to move forward with their previous plans for a won-backed stablecoin.

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