South Korean Court Grants Stay on Bithumb’s Six-Month Suspension
A South Korean court has paused the six-month partial suspension of Bithumb, allowing the crypto exchange to continue normal operations for now.
Court Approves Suspension Stay
The Seoul Administrative Court approved Bithumb’s request on Thursday. This decision puts the Financial Intelligence Unit’s (FIU) six-month suspension on hold until a final ruling is made.
FIU’s Original Penalty
In March, the FIU ordered a six-month ban on new customer deposits and withdrawals. It also imposed a 36.8 billion won ($25 million) fine for alleged AML violations, including failure to verify identities in 6.65 million cases. Bithumb’s CEO also faced disciplinary action.
Impact and Next Steps
The suspension was scheduled to start on March 27 but was delayed after Bithumb filed a lawsuit. The company argued it would hurt new user growth. Bithumb plans to challenge both the suspension and the fine in court. It has not yet paid the fine.
IPO Plans Delayed
Due to ongoing regulatory scrutiny, Bithumb has pushed back its IPO plans to 2028. The exchange is also dealing with a recent “fat finger” error involving a mistaken distribution of BTC, which triggered further investigations into its internal controls.
