Bithumb Secures Legal Victory in South Korea as Court Lifts Six-Month Suspension

In a significant development, a South Korean court has revoked the six-month partial business suspension of Bithumb, as reported by Yonhap News. The court's decision came after Bithumb filed an application for a stay of execution, which was accepted by Judge Gong Hyeon-jin of the 2nd Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court. However, it is unclear whether the 36.8 billion won ($24.6 million) fine imposed by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in March will also be suspended. The fine and suspension were imposed due to alleged massive violations of South Korea's anti-money laundering rules. Bithumb, one of the largest crypto exchanges in South Korea, had requested the court to lift the suspension and fine, citing that the regulator's claims of millions of violations were unfounded. The sanctions were based on violations of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, according to the Financial Services Commission. The FIU had discovered that Bithumb committed around 6.65 million violations, including failures to verify customer identities and improperly blocked transactions. While the court's ruling is a positive development for Bithumb, it comes amidst reports that the Personal Information Protection Commission has launched an investigation into Upbit, Bithumb, and other platforms for sharing order books with overseas platforms. The case against Bithumb is part of South Korea's increased regulatory scrutiny of the cryptocurrency market. In a similar case, the FIU had imposed a three-month partial suspension and a 35.2 billion won fine on Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, in 2025. Bithumb, established in 2014, is one of the largest exchanges in South Korea by trading volume, according to CoinGecko data. The suspension lift comes two months after Bithumb accidentally distributed billions of dollars worth of bitcoin to its users.