South Korea's FSC Refers Crypto Whale to Prosecution for Alleged Price Manipulation Scheme

According to a statement by South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC), the agency on Wednesday referred two individuals to prosecution for suspected cryptocurrency market manipulation following discussions at its regular meeting.

In the primary case, the FSC accuses a crypto whale of using tens of billions of Korean won—equivalent to approximately $6.4 million—over roughly two months to manipulate the price of a cryptocurrency listed on domestic and overseas exchanges. The suspect allegedly accumulated nearly half of the token's circulating supply, then "pumped" the price on overseas exchanges to induce domestic investors to buy before dumping holdings, causing significant losses for retail investors. A second case involves an individual who allegedly used API channels to place small orders creating the appearance of active trading while submitting high-priced limit buy orders to drive up prices before selling off holdings.