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

In a significant legal development, a South Korean court has reversed a six-month partial business suspension on Bithumb, as reported by Yonhap News. The court's 2nd Administrative Division, presided over by Judge Gong Hyeon-jin, granted Bithumb's application for a stay of execution on the same day it was submitted. However, it remains unclear whether the $24.6 million fine imposed by the financial watchdog has also been suspended. The fine and suspension were initially imposed in March due to alleged widespread non-compliance with local anti-money laundering regulations. Bithumb, one of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, had filed a request with the court to lift the suspension and fine imposed by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) after the regulator discovered millions of violations of the country's anti-money laundering rules. The sanctions were related to violations of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, according to the Financial Services Commission. The FIU alleged that Bithumb had committed approximately 6.65 million violations, including 3.55 million instances of failing to verify customer identities and 3.04 million cases of failing to properly block certain transactions. While the court's ruling to end the suspension 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 regarding the sharing of order books with overseas platforms. The case against Bithumb is part of South Korea's increased regulatory oversight of the cryptocurrency market. In 2025, the FIU imposed a three-month partial suspension and a $35.2 billion fine on Dunamu, the operator of the country's largest exchange, Upbit, for compliance gaps. Korbit, a rival platform, faced a smaller penalty of $2.73 billion along with institutional warnings. Established in 2014, Bithumb is currently 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 users.