South Korea’s financial regulator is cracking down on high cryptocurrency trading fees as part of a broader push to make digital asset investing more affordable for the country’s youth. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced plans to launch an investigation into the transaction fees charged by domestic crypto exchanges, aiming to determine if local platforms are overcharging compared to international standards.

The probe follows a campaign promise by recently elected President Lee Jae-myung, who pledged to lower trading costs and support younger investors. The FSC will survey local exchanges to gather detailed information on their fee structures, charging methods, and total collected fees. This move is part of the administration’s ongoing efforts to reshape crypto regulations with a more user-friendly approach.

Officials from the FSC say the investigation will assess whether current fee levels are unfairly burdensome and if they align with global practices. No specific target rate has been set yet, as the agency will first complete a comparative analysis between domestic and overseas exchanges.

This regulatory effort comes just months after South Korea introduced a 0.6% supervision fee on crypto exchange revenues. The fee, based on 2023 financials, is expected to generate an estimated 8 billion won ($5.8 million) annually. Major exchange Upbit’s parent company, Dunamu, reported 986.2 billion won ($714 million) in revenue, while competitors Bithumb and Coinone posted significantly lower figures.

The outcome of the fee investigation could bring major changes to how crypto trading operates in South Korea, potentially lowering costs for millions of retail investors and signaling a new era of crypto oversight under President Lee’s administration.