Bithumb Faces Special Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information Violation Sanctions Review, Fine Amount May Exceed Upbit's 35.2 Billion KRW

BlockBeats News, March 16th. According to Korean media reports, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea will hold a sanction review committee on March 16th to review the sanctions against Bithumb for violating the Specific Financial Information Act (Special Act) anti-money laundering obligations. FIU has previously issued a pre-notice to Bithumb, including a 6-month partial suspension of business and a warning to the representative director, which is more severe than the 3-month partial suspension imposed on Upbit.

It is reported that Bithumb has more transactions with undeclared overseas exchanges than Upbit. The number of transactions with undeclared exchanges is the main criterion for determining the severity of sanctions. Previously, Upbit was fined 35.2 billion Korean won and received a 3-month partial closure for 44,948 related transactions, while Korbit, which only had 19 transactions, was fined 2.7 billion Korean won and received an institutional warning. Therefore, market observers believe that Bithumb's fine could exceed 37 billion Korean won. An official from the South Korean Financial Services Commission stated that the specific sanctions against Bithumb have not yet been finalized.