Bithumb Exchange Faces $24.5M Fine and Partial Suspension from South Korean Regulators
South Korea's financial regulators have imposed a 36.8 billion won ($24.5 million) fine on Bithumb and ordered a six-month partial suspension of its operations. The penalties stem from serious violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, including failures in customer identity verification, transaction limits, and record-keeping. The crackdown underscores the government's intensified scrutiny of crypto platforms.
Bithumb facilitated 45,772 unregistered crypto transfers to 18 overseas virtual asset service providers, breaching AML laws designed to curb illicit financial flows. The exchange's repeated compliance failures highlight the challenges of adhering to evolving regulatory standards. From March 27 to September 26, Bithumb will be barred from processing external crypto transfers for new clients, though existing users and KRW deposits/withdrawals remain unaffected.
