South Korea Regulation: Bithumb announced that starting from 3/21, it will restrict deposits from unlicensed exchanges, including Upbit.

On March 17, the mainstream South Korean exchange Bithumb announced in a notice that starting from March 21 this year, it will restrict cryptocurrency deposits from "unregistered virtual asset service providers" in accordance with the Specific Financial Information Act.

Restrictions on Unlicensed Exchanges for Deposits

Exchanges that have not applied for a virtual asset service provider license include:

• KuCoin

• MEXC

• Phemex

• XT.com

• Bitrue

• ZB.com

• Bitglobal

• CoinW

• CoinEX

• AAX

• ZoomEX

• Poloniex

• BTCEX

• BTCC

• DigiFinex

• Pionex

Bithumb advises users to confirm whether the withdrawing exchange is on the above list before making a deposit. If an error occurs during the deposit, users must provide relevant proof to return the funds to the original exchange.

Earlier reports indicated that South Korea's cryptocurrency regulations are stricter than those of other Asian countries. Since the beginning of last year, users have been prohibited from withdrawing to unverified wallets. This made Coinone the second South Korean exchange to ban non-KYC addresses.

South Korean exchange Coinone's travel rule policy: No external transfers to non-KYC addresses, MetaMask addresses may not receive coins

Investigation into Receiving Money for Listing Coins

According to Chosun Biz report, following another South Korean exchange Coinone, Bithumb employees are also under investigation by the South Korean prosecutors for alleged arrangements related to receiving money for listing coins.

With the investigation of the two major exchanges in South Korea, other exchanges are on high alert. An anonymous source mentioned that the prosecutors have evidence of illegal coin listings at other South Korean exchanges such as Upbit, Corbit, and Gopax.

Another representative from a digital asset analysis firm pointed out that the process of receiving money for listing coins has been circulating within the industry in South Korea for a long time.

Bithumb has been involved in several scandals recently, including token manipulation and suspicions surrounding the suicide of its largest shareholder, Vidente.