BOK Seeks Safeguards for Crypto Exchanges Amid Recent Erroneous Payment Incident

The Bank of Korea has issued a report highlighting the need for greater oversight and regulation in the cryptocurrency market. In particular, the central bank has called for the introduction of circuit breakers in cryptocurrency exchanges to prevent erroneous payments caused by human error.

The report comes after a recent incident at Bithumb, where an employee input error resulted in the distribution of 620,000 bitcoins worth about 60 trillion won. The incident highlights the lack of internal control systems and regulatory standards in the crypto asset industry compared to traditional financial institutions.

The Bank of Korea believes that system-level safeguards similar to those used by traditional financial institutions can help mitigate such risks. This includes introducing IT systems that can automatically verify whether internal ledgers match blockchain balances, preventing erroneous payments caused by human error.