Data supplied by the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service has shown that the country's banks have been earning commission by providing virtual account services to crypto coin exchanges. In 2017, banks made a massive 36 times more in commission by providing these services than they did in 2016.

This data also includes the six banks, Nonghyup Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank, which the South Korean government ordered to be inspected by financial regulators. The total profits made by these banks was $2.1 million. 

The banks make these incredible profits by charging cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bithumb, Korbit, Upbit, and Kakao Talk a small fee every time a customer made a deposit. These fees are often passed on to the customers by the exchanges in the form of withdrawal fees.

The South Korean government has ordered banks to stop opening new virtual accounts to customers until anti-money laundering and know-your-customer protocols are in place. Banks will now be compelled to record the source of the funds which are used for cryptocurrency investments and to check the customer's purpose of trading. It remains to be seen if the government will enact further crackdowns on cryptocurrencies.