Bithumb’s $24M Oopsie: South Korea’s Crypto Slapstick Saga

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Finance

What ho, old sport! Here’s the lowdown:

  • South Korea’s FIU has given Bithumb a whopping 36.8 billion won ($24.6M) fine for AML jiggery-pokery.
  • The exchange is also handed a six-month partial suspension, though only new chaps are affected.
  • Apparently, there were 6.65 million violations-rather a lot of eggs in the wrong baskets, what?

Well, I’ll be jiggered! Bithumb, one of South Korea’s top crypto exchanges, has been given the old heave-ho by the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing brigade. A bit of a spot of bother, eh what?

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has come down on them like a ton of bricks, slapping a 36.8 billion won ($24.6 million) fine and a six-month partial suspension. Seems they’ve been up to no good with the old anti-money laundering rules.

According to the local toffs, the sanctions stem from violations of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. Rather a mouthful, that.

The FIU says Bithumb committed about 6.65 million violations. Good grief! 3.55 million were for failing to verify customer identities-a bit of a bloomer, that. And another 3.04 million for not blocking transactions that should’ve been stopped. Bit of a cock-up, what?

The suspension only affects new users, mind you. Existing chaps can carry on trading and moving funds as if nothing’s happened. Jolly decent of them, I suppose.

The top brass haven’t escaped unscathed either. The chief executive got a reprimand warning, and the reporting officer is suspended for six months. Bit of a rough deal, that.

All this came to light during on-site inspections of South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges-Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax-between 2024 and 2025. Rather a thorough job, I must say.

This comes as South Korean regulators are tightening the screws on the crypto market. Last year, Dunamu, the chap behind Upbit, got a three-month partial suspension and a 35.2 billion won fine. Korbit, another fellow, faced a smaller penalty of 2.73 billion won. Bit of a rough patch for the crypto crowd, what?

Bithumb, founded in 2014, is one of the big cheeses in South Korea by trading volume, according to CoinGecko. This suspension comes hot on the heels of their recent blunder, where they mistakenly distributed billions of dollars worth of bitcoin to users. Bit of a howler, that.

CoinDesk has tried to get a word with Bithumb, but no luck so far. Probably still picking up the pieces, poor chaps.

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2026-03-16 15:03