Regulators found 6.65 million AML violations at Bithumb, including 45,772 crypto transfers involving 18 unregistered overseas VASPs. South Korea has fined crypto exchange Bithumb 36.8 billion won (about $24.5 million) and imposed a six-month partial business suspension after finding widespread violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules, according to a Yonhap News Agency report. According to Yonhap, regulators identified about 6.65 million violations during an AML inspection, including failures related to customer identity verification, transaction restrictions and record-keeping requirements. Authorities found Bithumb facilitated 45,772 crypto transfers involving 18 unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers (VASPs), in violation of South Korea’s AML rules. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) reportedly decided on the penalties following a sanctions deliberation committee meeting reviewing the exchange’s compliance with the Act on Reporting and...
Crypto exchange Bithumb risks a partial business suspension for negligence around money laundering and customer verification practices, according to local media reports. Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is reportedly facing a possible partial business suspension of up to six months as regulators step up enforcement over anti-money laundering controls. South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) gave Bithumb a preliminary notice of a six-month partial suspension over alleged anti-money laundering and know-your-customer failures under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, according to local media reports on Monday. The regulator reportedly cited concerns over dealings with unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers and shortcomings in customer due diligence. The FIU also issued a reprimand warning to Bithumb’s CEO, a warning considered a heavy penalty, which may lead to restrictions on his reappointment or futur...
South Korean authorities launched an investigation into Bithumb after it mistakenly credited 620,000 BTC to users, adding to concerns about “paper Bitcoin” and internal controls. South Korea’s financial watchdog opened an investigation into Bithumb after the exchange mistakenly credited hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin that it did not actually hold to user accounts. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) launched a probe into Bithumb for alleged platform violations around the erroneous crediting of billions of dollars in non-existent Bitcoin (BTC) to user accounts, Yonhap News reported Tuesday. Bithumb acknowledged the incident on Saturday, saying the platform “incorrectly paid” 620,000 BTC ($42.8 billion) to users during a promotional event. Read more
Bithumb says it has reclaimed most of the excess BTC credited during a promotional error and used company funds to cover 1,788 Bitcoin that had already been sold. South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb says it has resolved an incident in which a promotional reward error credited certain user accounts with excess Bitcoin. In a Sunday statement, the exchange confirmed it recovered 99.7% of the overpaid Bitcoin (BTC) on the same day the incident occurred. The remaining 0.3%, totaling 1,788 Bitcoin that had already been sold, was covered using company funds to ensure customer balances remained fully matched. “Bithumb's holdings of all virtual assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), are 100% equivalent to or exceeding user deposits,” the exchange wrote. Read more
The South Korean exchange said an internal error during a promotional event led to brief price dislocations, stressing that no customer assets were lost. Bithumb said it identified and corrected an internal payout error after an “abnormal amount” of Bitcoin was credited to some user accounts during a promotional event, briefly causing sharp price fluctuations on the exchange. In a company announcement on Friday, the South Korean crypto exchange said the price dislocation occurred after some recipients sold the mistakenly credited Bitcoin, but that it quickly restricted the affected accounts through internal controls, allowing market prices to stabilize within minutes and preventing any chain liquidations. Bithumb said the incident was unrelated to any hacking or security breach and did not result in losses to customer assets, adding that trading, deposits and withdrawals are operating normally. The company said that customer funds remain safely managed and that it will transparently disclose follow-up actions...
Millions of long-inactive users still hold crypto at Bithumb, highlighting how early retail capital can remain untouched for years. South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb flagged over $200 million in customer assets dormant across 2.6 million accounts, offering a glimpse into how much retail capital remains untouched on centralized platforms. The disclosure came as part of the exchange's dormant asset recovery campaign, which targets users who have not logged in or traded for over a year. According to Bithumb, dormant assets total about 291.6 billion Korean won (about $201.8 million), with some balances left inactive for over a decade. Bithumb said the largest dormant holding it had identified was worth about $2.84 million. Meanwhile, the longest period of inactivity stretched to 4,380 days, or almost a dozen years. Read more