South Korea fines Bithumb $24 million, orders 6-month partial suspension over AML violations

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email South Korea fines Bithumb $24 million, orders 6-month partial suspension over AML violations The fine stems from approximately 6.65 million violations related to KYC and transaction restrictions. By Francisco Rodrigues , AI Boost | Edited by Omkar Godbole Mar 16, 2026, 12:04 p.m. Make us preferred on Google (Photo by Daniel Bernard on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : South Korea's FIU fined Bithumb 36.8 billion won ($24.6M) for AML violations. The exchange received a six-month partial suspension, only affecting new users. The fine stems from approximately 6.65 million violations related to KYC and transaction restrictions. Bithumb, one of South Korea's leading crypto exchanges, has been fined by the country's anti–money laundering and counter-terrorism financing agency. South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has slapped a 36.8 billion won ($24.6 million) fine and ordered a six-month partial suspension after finding millions of violations of the country's anti-money laundering rules. The sanctions stem from violations of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, the Financial Services Commission said, according to local media . According to the FIU, Bithumb committed about 6.65 million violations. Around 3.55 million involved failures to carry out required customer identity verification, while 3.04 million were related to cases where the exchange failed to properly block transactions that should have been blocked. The suspension targets services for newly registered users. Existing customers will still be able to trade and move funds on the platform, according to initial reports on these sanctions . Regulators also issued personnel penalties. Bithumb's chief executive received a reprimand warning, while the exchange's reporting officer was suspended for six months. The violations surfaced during on-site inspections of South Korea's five largest crypto exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax, conducted between 2024 and 2025. The case comes as South Korean regulators tighten oversight of the crypto market. Last year, the FIU handed Dunamu, the operator of the country's largest exchange, Upbit, a three-month partial suspension and a 35.2 billion won fine for compliance gaps. Korbit, a rival platform, faced a smaller penalty of 2.73 billion won, along with institutional warnings. Bithumb, founded in 2014, ranks among the largest exchanges in South Korea by trading volume, according to CoinGecko data. The partial suspension comes just a month after Bithumb mistakenly distributed billions of dollars worth of bitcoin to users. CoinDesk has reached out to Bithumb for comment, but hasn't heard back at the time of writing. South Korea Crypto Exchange Bithumb AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You Crypto trading firm Blockfills files for bankruptcy By Will Canny , Omkar Godbole | Edited by Omkar Godbole 7 hours ago The institutional crypto lender filed for bankruptcy after suspending withdrawals, incurring about $75 million in losses and facing a lawsuit alleging misuse of customer funds. What to know : Institutional crypto trading and lending firm BlockFills has filed for bankruptcy, according to a filing seen by CoinDesk. The firm halted customer withdrawals in February after suffering about $75 million in losses. A U.S. judge recently issued a temporary restraining order against the company in a lawsuit alleging misappropriation of customer assets. Read full story Latest Crypto News Memecoins outpace bitcoin, ether as 'barbell strategy' wins out 35 minutes ago Altcoins jump as bitcoin inches toward potential $74,000 breakout 1 hour ago Trump-backed WLFI passes proposal letting $5 million stakers buy 'direct access' to team 2 hours ago Fed headlines central bank rate decisions, Gemini earnings: Crypto Week Ahead 3 hours ago Australian Senate panel backs crypto regulation framework 5 hours ago XRP climbs 3% past $1.47 as breakout extends on broad bitcoin-led move 6 hours ago Top Stories Crypto trading firm Blockfills files for bankruptcy 7 hours ago Bitcoin's price trades above its 50-day average as bullish move gathers pace 7 hours ago The math behind Strategy’s path to 1 million bitcoin by the end of 2026 Mar 14, 2026 AI developers may not be keen on crypto, but stablecoins are the secret to agentic finance, crypto insiders say Mar 14, 2026 Wall Street pushes tokenized stocks, but institutions aren’t eager to trade them Mar 14, 2026 Here is why Nasdaq and owner of NYSE are putting the $126 trillion equity market on blockchain 20 hours ago