South Korea imposes $24 million penalty on Bithumb and mandates a six-month partial operational halt due to money laundering infractions.

The penalty arises from roughly 6.65 million infractions concerning KYC and transaction limitations.

(Photo by Daniel Bernard on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

Key points:

• South Korea’s FIU imposed a 36.8 billion won ($24.6M) penalty on Bithumb for anti-money laundering infractions.
• The exchange faces a six-month partial suspension, which only impacts new users.
• The penalty is a result of around 6.65 million infractions concerning KYC and transaction limitations.

Bithumb, a prominent crypto exchange in South Korea, has been penalized by the nation’s agency for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea has levied a fine of 36.8 billion won ($24.6 million) and mandated a six-month partial suspension after uncovering numerous breaches of the country’s anti-money laundering regulations.

The penalties arise from breaches of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, as noted by the Financial Services Commission, according to local news sources.

The FIU reported that Bithumb was responsible for approximately 6.65 million infractions. About 3.55 million were linked to lapses in mandatory customer identity verification, while 3.04 million were associated with instances where the exchange failed to block transactions that should have been restricted.

The suspension specifically affects services for newly registered users. Current clients will still be permitted to trade and transfer funds on the platform, based on initial reports regarding the penalties.

Authorities have also imposed personnel sanctions. The chief executive of Bithumb received a formal warning, and the exchange’s reporting officer has been suspended for six months.

The infractions were revealed during inspections of South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges, which include Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, conducted between 2024 and 2025.

This situation arises as South Korean regulators enhance their scrutiny of the cryptocurrency sector. Last year, the FIU imposed a three-month partial suspension and a 35.2 billion won fine on Dunamu, the operator of the largest exchange, Upbit, due to compliance deficiencies. Additionally, Korbit, a competing platform, received a smaller fine of 2.73 billion won, along with institutional warnings.

Bithumb, established in 2014, ranks among the top exchanges in South Korea by trading volume, as per CoinGecko data. The partial suspension follows a recent incident where Bithumb inadvertently distributed billions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin to users.

CoinDesk has contacted Bithumb for a response but has not received a reply at the time of this writing.