The Korea Institute of Finance has advised South Korea’s Financial Services Commission to classify decentralized finance (DeFi) and over-the-counter (OTC) support providers as unlicensed virtual asset operators. The institute recommended restricting domestic users’ access to or trading with those providers and applying anti-money-laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist-financing (CFT) obligations to them. Its report on second-phase legislation and stablecoin-related AML improvements, submitted to the commission late last year, also proposed separate guidelines for determining whether overseas unregistered virtual asset operators should face enforcement. For stablecoins, the institute identified cold wallets and person-to-person wallet transactions as areas where existing AML controls are difficult to apply. Over the medium to long term, it said South Korea should consider reporting and registration requirements for platforms or software providers facilitating transfers between stablecoin wallets.