South Korean Court Rules in Favor of Bithumb, Lifts Six-Month Suspension

In a significant development, a South Korean court has reversed the six-month partial business suspension of Bithumb, as reported by Yonhap News. The decision was made by Judge Gong Hyeon-jin of the Seoul Administrative Court's 2nd Administrative Division, who accepted 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 violations of South Korea's anti-money laundering regulations. Bithumb, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, 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 based on violations of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, according to the Financial Services Commission. The FIU had found that Bithumb 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 transactions. While the court's decision to end the suspension is a positive development for Bithumb, it comes amid 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 a broader effort by South Korean regulators to increase oversight of the cryptocurrency market. In 2025, the FIU imposed a three-month partial suspension and a fine of 35.2 billion won 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 won and institutional warnings. Established in 2014, Bithumb is one of the largest exchanges in South Korea by trading volume, according to CoinGecko data. The lifting of the suspension comes two months after Bithumb mistakenly distributed billions of dollars worth of bitcoin to users.