Crypto exchange Bithumb receives approval in South Korea
South Korea's Bithumb exchange has been officially registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit. This means that all four major domestic exchanges, including Upbit, Coinone, and Korbit, have been granted the status of legal virtual asset operators.
Bithumb has been registered as an official virtual asset operator
The FIU announced on November 19 that it had registered Bithumb as an official virtual asset operator. The country's other three major exchanges - Upbit, Coinone and Korbit - had already been accepted by the FIU. At the same time, the regulator delayed a decision on Bithumb's business report 75 days after it was filed. Some media reports attributed this to the ongoing trial of Bithumb's main shareholder, Lee Jung-hoon who was charged with fraud.Bithumb CEO Heo Back-young responded to the news today, thanking users and promising to "do best to focus on introducing cryptocurrencies based on a strict listing process" and that the exchange "will "put investor protection as a top priority." On the same day as Bithumb, the FIU also accepted the business reports of Flybit and GDAC - two of the smaller exchanges in South Korea. However, they cannot offer cash-to-crypto services because they have not secured a banking partnership.
The FSC imposed two essential requirements for crypto exchanges
On March 25, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) imposed two essential requirements on virtual asset operators. First, exchanges had to obtain certification for an information security management system (ISMS) that demonstrates their ability to protect users' personal information. Second, they had to partner with a local bank in South Korea to provide crypto exchange users with bank accounts for withdrawals and deposits under their real names. This was to reduce the risk of crimes such as money laundering, embezzlement, or price manipulation.As a result of the crypto regulations, only 28 of the original 63 exchanges are still operating. Of the 28, only the four major exchanges have met both requirements, making them the only ones allowed to offer cash-to-crypto services. The other 24 managed to get the ISMS certification, but not the banking contract, and were restricted to operating as token-to-token exchanges.
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