According to reports from local news media, South Korean authorities are planning to carry out money laundering investigations of six of the country’s largest banks in relation to cryptocurrency transactions.

The joint operation by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) hopes to discover if the banks carried out their legal obligations to prevent money laundering taking place when managing virtual accounts.

Kookmin Bank, NongHyup Bank, Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank, Korea Development Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea will be subject to what is being described as an \"extensive probe\", which should be complete by Thursday 11th January.

While investors have continued to invest in cryptocurrencies, the South Korean government has decided to take an increasingly hard stance and is currently seeking to severely restrict the operation of exchanges based in the country. Once the legislation comes into force, it is likely that citizens will only be permitted to hold a single exchange account, which must be linked to their real name and other identifying information. It is also expected that new taxes will be introduced to address the profits made from buying and trading cryptocurrencies.

Since a number of recent cyber attacks, South Korean exchanges have been under intense pressure, and it remains to be seen what impact this investigation will have on the country’s cryptocurrency markets.