South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit [FIU] has imposed a 36.8 billion won ($25 million) fine and a six-month partial business suspension on crypto exchange Bithumb. This comes after regulators uncovered more than 6.6 million violations of the country’s financial reporting and compliance rules.
The enforcement action follows regulatory inspections conducted between 2024 and 2025 across South Korea’s five major exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax—and signals the country’s continued push to tighten oversight of digital asset trading platforms.
Authorities said the violations were linked primarily to failures in customer identification and transaction monitoring obligations under South Korea’s Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transaction Information.
FIU identifies millions of compliance breaches by Bithumb
According to the reports, investigators identified approximately 6.65 million violations tied to compliance failures on Bithumb’s platform.
The breakdown includes:
- 3.55 million breaches related to failures to verify customer identities properly
- 3.04 million violations involving failures to restrict certain transactions as required under the law
The regulator said the sanctions were determined after reviewing the scale of the violations, the extent of legal responsibility, and the operational impact on financial compliance requirements.
Disciplinary measures were also imposed on senior personnel at the exchange.
Bithumb’s CEO received a formal reprimand, while the exchange’s reporting officer was suspended from duty for 6 months.
Partial business suspension imposed
The penalty reportedly includes a six-month partial suspension of operations. However, regulators did not indicate that the exchange would be completely shut down.
South Korea maintains one of the strictest regulatory frameworks for digital asset exchanges, requiring platforms to implement robust Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) controls.
Under the Special Financial Information Act, exchanges must identify customers, monitor transactions, and restrict suspicious activity linked to potential illicit financial flows.
Violations of these obligations can result in financial penalties, executive sanctions, and operational restrictions, as seen in the Bithumb case.
KRW trading remains dominant on the exchange
Despite the regulatory action, trading activity on Bithumb remains dominated by Korean won markets.
Data from Coingecko shows KRW-denominated trades account for more than 92% of total trading volume, underscoring the strength of domestic crypto demand in South Korea.
Among the most actively traded pairs were:
- XRP/KRW – 14.68% of volume
- BTC/KRW – 11.15%
- ETH/KRW – 10.83%
- USDT/KRW – 10.44%
Other markets, including SOL/KRW, G/KRW, and DOGE/KRW, accounted for smaller portions of overall activity.
The exchange also recorded approximately $724 million in 24-hour trading volume, highlighting continued market participation despite the regulatory penalty.
Final Summary
- South Korean regulators fined Bithumb $25 million and imposed a six-month partial suspension after identifying more than 6.6 million compliance violations.
- Despite the enforcement action, KRW-denominated trading remains dominant, highlighting strong domestic participation in South Korea’s crypto market.
