South Korean court grants stay on Bithumb’s six-month suspension pending final ruling: reports

A South Korean court has granted a stay on crypto exchange Bithumb’s six-month suspension pending a final ruling, according to local media.

The Seoul Administrative Court’s 2nd Administrative Division, led by Judge Gong Hyeon-jin, approved the request on Thursday, pausing the partial business suspension imposed by the Financial Intelligence Unit, an anti-money laundering body under the Financial Services Commission, Yonhap News reported.

The FIU initially sent the cryptocurrency exchange a suspension notice in March, alleging it had violated AML obligations, which would have halted external cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals for new customers. 

The FIU also imposed a fine of 36.8 billion won ($25 million), citing the company’s alleged failure to verify the identities of its users in about 6.65 million cases, The Korea Herald reported. The company’s CEO, Lee Jae-won, also faces disciplinary action, it was reported at the time.

The six-month suspension represented the most severe sanction imposed on a Korean won-based crypto exchange, Yonhap said, and was originally scheduled to take effect on March 27. However, Bithumb filed an administrative lawsuit along with a request for a stay of execution on March 23. Enforcement was paused while the court reviewed the request, and the decision to grant a stay keeps the suspension on hold, allowing the company to continue operating as normal until the final ruling.

Bithumb earlier said the suspension would curb new user growth and hurt its business, while the FIU argued it would have only a limited impact on revenue. Bithumb is also expected to challenge the fine, which remains unpaid more than four weeks after the deadline despite a 20% early payment discount from the FIU, according to The Korea Herald.

“We plan to faithfully present our position throughout the remaining legal proceedings,” Bithumb reportedly said.

The Block reached out to Bithumb for comment.

Bithumb IPO delayed amid regulatory scrutiny and ‘fat finger’ error

Last month, Bithumb pushed its proposed IPO timeline to 2028 amid the regulatory scrutiny, as local rival Upbit also works on its own public listing plans.

Executives also addressed a fat-finger error earlier this year in which it mistakenly distributed a theoretical 620,000 BTC to users as part of an internal promotional campaign. The exchange said it has since recovered most of the smaller amount of funds actually claimed and formed a company-wide task force to prevent similar incidents.

The error prompted a probe by South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, which has been examining the exchange’s internal controls and risk management.

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