Bithumb Exchange Hit with $24.5M Fine and Six-Month New User Transfer Ban for AML Failures
South Korean regulators have imposed a 36.8 billion won ($24.5 million) penalty on cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb after identifying 6.65 million violations of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. An inspection by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) uncovered significant compliance deficiencies, including 45,772 transactions processed through unregistered overseas providers and systemic failures in customer verification protocols.
Effective March 27, 2026, Bithumb faces a six-month ban on external cryptocurrency transfers for new users, though existing clients will not be affected. These sanctions coincide with a separate investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) into the exchange's accidental 620,000 Bitcoin credit incident—an operational error that highlights the ongoing risks within South Korea's crypto sector.
