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A Seoul tribunal has temporarily halted a six-month partial concern suspension imposed connected South Korean crypto speech Bithumb, dealing a important ineligible setback to the country’s fiscal regulator conscionable weeks aft a akin ruling went against it successful the Upbit case.
Key Takeaways:
- Seoul’s tribunal halted Bithumb’s 6-month FIU suspension connected April 30, allowing the speech to proceed afloat operations.
- The FIU fined Bithumb 36.8 cardinal won ($24.6M) for 6.65 cardinal AML and KYC violations successful March 2026.
- Upbit, Coinone, and Korbit look akin FIU sanctions, with Coinone’s archetypal tribunal proceeding acceptable for May 12.
Court Steps In arsenic Bithumb Fights Record Penalty
On April 30, 2026, Judge Gong Hyeon-jin of the Seoul Administrative Court accepted Bithumb’s request for a enactment of execution, temporarily blocking a six-month partial concern suspension that South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) – an anti-money laundering (AML) assemblage nether the Financial Services Commission – had imposed successful March.
The FIU besides levied a 36.8 cardinal won ($24.6 million) good against the speech for astir 6.65 cardinal compliance violations.
The violations fell into 2 categories. One pertained to astir 3.55 cardinal cases of failed lawsuit individuality verification, and the different to 3.04 cardinal instances wherever Bithumb failed to artifact transactions with unregistered virtual plus operators.
The six-month suspension, described arsenic the harshest authorisation ever handed to a Korean won-based crypto exchange, would person barred caller customers from transferring outer virtual assets connected the platform, with Bithumb informing during an April 23 proceeding that the measurement would artifact caller lawsuit acquisition and harm operations, peculiarly if South Korea’s organization capitalist marketplace opens.
Bithumb filed an administrative suit and sought an injunction connected March 23, days earlier the suspension was owed to instrumentality effect connected March 27. Thursday’s ruling keeps the speech afloat operational portion proceedings continue. The institution stated it plans to “faithfully contiguous our presumption passim the remaining ineligible proceedings.” Notably, Bithumb has not yet paid its fine, contempt the FIU offering a 20% discount for timely colony much than 4 weeks ago.
A Pattern of Legal Challenges Across Korean Exchanges
Bithumb is not warring unsocial arsenic the ruling intimately follows a favorable first-instance judgement for Upbit relation Dunamu connected April 9, a lawsuit wherever the tribunal noted exchanges’ self-initiated compliance efforts successful the lack of wide regulatory guidelines. The FIU has since appealed that decision.
Coinone faces a 5.2 cardinal won fine and a partial suspension for Know Your Customer (KYC) violations, with its archetypal tribunal proceeding scheduled for May 12. Of the 4 large won-based exchanges targeted by the FIU’s enforcement question (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit), lone Korbit has not filed a ineligible challenge.
This drawstring of tribunal stays is exposing deeper questions astir the ineligible instauration of the FIU’s sanctions framework. Courts person consistently factored successful whether exchanges made self-directed compliance efforts contempt the lack of wide regulatory guidance, a modular the FIU’s punishment calculations bash not look to person accounted for.
The regulator argued during the Bithumb proceeding that the suspension would impact lone portion of trading activities with constricted gross impact. The tribunal remained unconvinced.
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