Crypto Regulations and Scams in 2025: What Happened in November

When you think about crypto regulations, government rules that control how digital currencies are bought, sold, or used. Also known as cryptocurrency laws, they determine whether you can trade freely—or end up in legal trouble. November 2025 showed just how wild the ride has become. Countries like South Korea slapped Upbit with potential $34 billion fines for failing to verify users, while Indonesia doubled down on banning crypto payments even as trading stayed legal. These aren’t just policy changes—they’re life-altering for millions who rely on crypto to bypass broken banks or inflation.

Meanwhile, crypto scams, fraudulent platforms designed to steal funds under false promises of high returns or fake features. Also known as crypto fraud, they’re growing smarter and more convincing. Platforms like EtherMuim, Play Royal Exchange, and Armoney didn’t exist—but they had fake websites, fake reviews, and real victims. In Cambodia, underground crypto trading turned into a $15 billion criminal empire tied to human trafficking. In Ecuador, people use Bitcoin not for crime, but to survive. These aren’t edge cases—they’re the new normal in places where traditional finance fails.

DeFi exchanges, decentralized platforms that let users trade crypto without a middleman, often with lower fees but higher risk. Also known as DEXes, they’re where innovation and danger meet. Mangata Finance on Polkadot promised no gas fees but had no public interface. DeDust on TON offered advanced cross-chain swaps, while Polycat Finance on Polygon had zero audits and dying liquidity. Some worked. Most didn’t. And then there’s the confusion: Swapr on Arbitrum? Doesn’t exist. Rokes Commons? Fake. Bitsdaq? Dead. These aren’t typos—they’re traps.

And behind it all, the tech that makes it possible: blockchain scalability, how a network handles more transactions without slowing down or costing more. Also known as network throughput. Ethereum’s sharding upgrade aimed to jump from 15 to 100,000 transactions per second. That’s not theory—it’s the reason DeFi can even exist. Without it, platforms like 1inch or Raydium couldn’t function. But scaling alone doesn’t fix bad actors. A faster chain doesn’t stop a scammer.

This month wasn’t about hype. It was about survival. People in Tunisia got jailed for using crypto. U.S. expats faced a $890,000 tax threshold just to leave the country. Meme coins like CAT and MELON collapsed to near zero. AI tokens like Unibase (UB) promised memory layers for autonomous agents—real tech, buried under noise. And in Bolivia, a decade-long Bitcoin ban finally lifted… but payments? Still illegal.

What you’ll find below isn’t a list of articles. It’s a map. Of where crypto actually works, where it’s banned, where it’s stolen, and where it’s quietly changing lives. No fluff. No guesses. Just what happened—and what you need to know before you touch your next wallet.