Bithumb Hit with Multi-Million Dollar Fine and Partial Suspension

South Korean regulators have cracked down on cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, imposing a hefty fine and partial suspension of operations. According to reports, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) identified over 6.65 million compliance breaches tied to customer identification and transaction monitoring obligations under South Korea's Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transaction Information.

The breakdown of violations reveals that Bithumb failed to properly verify customer identities in approximately 3.55 million cases, while an additional 3.04 million transactions were restricted as required by law. The regulator said the sanctions were determined after reviewing the scale of the violations and operational impact on financial compliance requirements.

Disciplinary measures were also imposed on senior personnel at Bithumb's exchange, with the CEO receiving a formal reprimand and the reporting officer suspended from duty for six months. As part of the penalty, the exchange will face a partial business suspension for an undisclosed period, but it remains operational with approximately $724 million in 24-hour trading volume.