Crypto Millionaires Turned Away by Trust Firms Over Fund Origins

Investors and entrepreneurs who built fortunes worth billions or even tens of billions of won in cryptocurrency are being turned away by traditional financial institutions. What matters more than the size of the gains is proving where the money came from. Even those who convert their holdings into cash find that trust companies are reluctant to take them on as clients.

Cash-Rich From Selling Coins, but the First Question Is Where the Money Came From

According to the Financial Times on the 10th, entrepreneurs and investors who have made large sums from cryptocurrency are seeking offshore trusts for inheritance planning and tax efficiency, but many trust companies view them as high-risk clients.

The wealth created in the crypto market is already substantial. Citing British tax authority data, the FT reported that U.K. taxpayers sold 13.8 billion pounds (about 25 trillion won) worth of cryptocurrency in the year through April 2025. About 250 of them each recorded capital gains of more than 1 million pounds (about 1.82 billion won).

What trust companies scrutinize, however, is the history of the money rather than the size of the assets. Because cryptocurrency can move across multiple exchanges and private wallets, tracing the origin of the initial investment and the subsequent transactions is more difficult than with stocks or real estate.