South Korea's Fair Trade Commission is considering classifying major cryptocurrency exchanges Dunamu and Bithumb as financial conglomerates. This potential designation would impose stricter regulatory requirements on the exchanges, including capital adequacy and risk management standards. The move represents a significant shift in South Korea's approach to regulating virtual asset firms, which have traditionally been kept separate from traditional financial institutions. The exchanges meet the asset threshold for conglomerate status under current South Korean law, but implementing this change would require legal and regulatory adjustments. Existing laws were not originally designed to accommodate virtual asset companies, highlighting the evolving landscape of crypto regulation in the country.