South Korea To Drop Massive Fines on Its Top Crypto Exchanges — Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit First in Line

Core Insights - South Korea's financial watchdog is set to impose fines and sanctions on major crypto exchanges for anti-money-laundering failures, following a year-long series of inspections [1][7] - The severity of sanctions is expected to be similar to those imposed on Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, which faced a fine of 35.2 billion KRW ($26 million) for KYC failures [4][5] Regulatory Actions - The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has completed inspections of Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX, and is now preparing for the sanctions phase [3][7] - Sanctions will be issued in the order of inspections completed, with Korbit, GOPAX, Bithumb, and Coinone next in line [3][7] Compliance Focus - Inspections concentrated on compliance with the Special Financial Transactions Act, particularly regarding Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification and reporting of suspicious transactions [4][6] - The regulatory framework applied to each exchange is consistent, suggesting that the severity of penalties will not vary significantly among them [4] Industry Context - South Korea is recognized for having one of the strictest crypto regulatory environments globally, with oversight measures that align closely with traditional finance [6][8] - Recent events, including the ICO boom of 2017 and the 2022 market contagion, have led to a more conservative regulatory approach [6][8]