👋 Welcome back! In this CryptoCubed April Edition, we explore interesting cases, such as the major Coinone $3.5M fine, the latest Russia Crypto Bill, the FCA’s raid on eight illegal crypto hubs, and the U.S. targeted take down of a massive pig butchering fraud operation.
From heavy AML penalties and crypto crackdowns to a significant push toward a formal crypto framework, the month shows how quickly the global digital asset landscape is tightening around compliance, oversight, and control. Read on below!
Coinone $3.5M Fine in South Korea
South Korea, April 13, 2026 🇰🇷: Coinone, one of South Korea’s major cryptocurrency exchanges, has been fined 5.2 billion won ($3.5 million) for repeatedly breaking AML and KYC rules. The South Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) also enforced a partial 3-month business suspension.
Coinone had failed to verify 70,000 customer identities. Of those, 40,000 involved unverifiable or incomplete ID documents, and 30,000 involved customers who were allowed to trade despite incomplete verification. Moreover, the company facilitated 10,113 transactions with 16 unregistered foreign virtual asset platforms, thereby breaching the South Korean Special Financial Information Act.
Cha Myung-hoon, Coinone’s CEO, was also reprimanded. The penalty is a wider push by the country to align crypto exchanges with traditional AML standards, with Coinone’s peers, Upbit, Korbit, and Bithumb, fined in previous months. Coinone has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the business suspension and enforcement penalty. The lawsuit is still ongoing.
For more on this story, click here.
FCA Raids Peer-to-Peer Crypto Trading Hubs
United Kingdom, April 22, 2026 🇬🇧: The FCA’s Enforcement and Market Oversight division, together with the His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU), cracks down on eight illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto hubs across London.
In the UK, there are no authorized P2P crypto companies currently operating. These eight unauthorized, illegal sites facilitated crypto trading, where users could buy and sell crypto directly with one another without undergoing identity and background verification. As such, individuals could move illicit funds with one another without being detected by authorities.
Unregistered traders can enable criminals to move, disguise, and spend illegal money.
Officials have issued a cease and desist notice to each of them. This case highlights the UK’s move to introduce broader regulatory obligations for crypto firms in 2027. The FCA has urged all crypto companies to strengthen KYC to dodge high-risk P2P transactions.
For more information, click here.
Chinese Crypto Investment Scam to Repay Victims $700 M
United States, April 23, 2026 🇺🇸: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), led by U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro, took down a massive “scam compound” in Burma, impersonating US banks and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to steal money from American citizens.
Huang Xingshan and Jiang Wen Jie, the leaders of the scam operation, lured job seekers to run pig butchering fraud, defrauding US citizens of millions of dollars via fiat or crypto. Over $700M has been restrained in blockchain assets. These funds are now being queued for verified victims.
This case is a scary one, as it highlights the speed and anonymity of crypto transactions, acting as perfect channels for money laundering. For legitimate crypto firms, this could mean potentially handling laundered proceeds through the fraud pipeline. As such, crypto companies must enforce comprehensive transaction monitoring and enhanced KYC screening to block pig butchering inflows early.
For more on this, click here.
Advances in Russia Crypto Bill
Russia, April 21, 2026 🇷🇺: The Russian State Duma has advanced a monumental crypto bill in first reading, forming the country’s first-ever, formalized digital asset frameworks. The bill shifts Russia’s crypto scene from a de facto ban to a structured, state-controlled market.
After years of ambiguity, crypto firms and Russian citizens now have access to clear guidelines on trading, licensing, and using cryptocurrency internationally. The crypto bill garnered huge support in parliament, with 327 votes in favor out of 340. While the bill has only passed through the first reading, the positive favor might mean the bill can be expected to roll out by July 2026.
For global crypto platforms, partnering with licensed local exchanges is crucial to avoid restrictions from Russian regulators. The move is expected to accelerate crypto diplomacy under heightened regulator oversight to combat illicit trading. Subsequent readings and presidential approval are ongoing.
Find more on this story here.
Time for Some Light-Hearted Creative Criticism?
So you’ve made it to the end of our newsletter. It’s time to enjoy a little satire, worthy reader, you’ve earned it.
🔥THE CRYPTO CUBED POEM: APRIL🔥
Crypto never sleeps, it shifts with every tide,
From Seoul to London, rules now cut more wide.
Some firms are fined, some shadows pulled to light,
Some fraud is stopped before it grows too bright.
In Russia, rules are forming strong and new,
While global platforms rethink what they do.
The market changes fast, both harsh and bold,
Where trust and traceability now outweigh gold.
Stay tuned for our May newsletter, and have a great month!
