South Korean authorities fined crypto exchange Bithumb 36.8 billion won (about $24.5 million) and imposed a six-month partial business suspension after an anti-money laundering inspection uncovered widespread compliance failures, Yonhap reported. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission found roughly 6.65 million violations, including lapses in customer identity verification, transaction restrictions and record-keeping.
The FIU said investigators identified 45,772 cryptocurrency transfers involving 18 unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers (VASPs), in breach of the country’s AML rules. The sanctions—decided by the FIU’s deliberation committee under the Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transaction Information—represent the largest fine levied so far against a South Korean crypto exchange amid an intensifying regulatory crackdown.
The partial suspension prevents Bithumb from processing external crypto transfers for new customers for six months, from March 27 to Sept. 26. Existing users will not face trading limits, and new customers can still buy or sell crypto and deposit or withdraw Korean won on the platform. Regulators said they repeatedly warned Bithumb to stop transactions with unregistered overseas firms but found the exchange failed to put in place effective blocking measures; a preliminary notice of the suspension was issued on March 9.
The action follows other recent enforcement steps: in February 2025 the FIU restricted deposits and withdrawals for new customers at Upbit for three months and fined the exchange 35.2 billion won (about $23.5 million) over dealings with unregistered VASPs, and in December 2025 Korbit was fined 2.73 billion won (about $1.8 million) and given an institutional warning for AML and customer-verification breaches.