South Korean court halts financial regulator’s partial business suspension penalty against Bithumb

According to Yonhap News, the Seoul Administrative Court’s Administrative Division No. 2 ruled on April 30 to accept Bithumb’s application to suspend enforcement of a partial business suspension order issued against it by South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The effect of this partial suspension order will thus be stayed until the court issues its final judgment in this case. Previously, in March this year, the FIU imposed a severe penalty on Bithumb—six months of partial business suspension and a fine of KRW 36.8 billion—citing 6.65 million violations by Bithumb of obligations stipulated under South Korea’s Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information (“Special Financial Information Act”). The suspended operations specifically involve external virtual asset transfers (i.e., deposits and withdrawals) for new customers. This marks the harshest penalty ever levied against a Korean won-based cryptocurrency exchange operating in South Korea. The penalty was originally scheduled to take effect on March 27. However, Bithumb filed an administrative lawsuit on March 23 and simultaneously applied for a stay of enforcement, thereby temporarily halting the penalty’s effect. The court’s formal acceptance of the application means that the sanctions will remain suspended until the final ruling is rendered in this case.