Bithumb Terminates Trademark Agreements With 2 Foreign-Based Exchanges

July 18, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Bithumb Hong Kong subsidiaries reportedly face civil suit from Thai partner

July 6, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bithumb

A Thai firm claims that Bithumb’s Hong Kong subsidiaries caused it serious damage by unilaterally halting its business in Thailand.

Bithumb’s Hong Kong affiliates are reportedly facing a civil suit for breach of contract.

According to a Tuesday report by the Korea Times, the suit is being initiated by a former Bithumb partner in Thailand, which is accusing the South Korean-headquartered exchange of unilaterally halting its business in Thailand and causing major losses.

The Thai firm — which remains unnamed — is reportedly preparing to file a lawsuit against Bithumb’s Hong Kong subsidiaries, including Bithumb Global Holdings and GBEX, as well as top company executives in July.

According to the plaintiff firm, Bithumb’s Hong Kong-based entities were allegedly involved in the company’s previous plans to open a Bithumb exchange in Thailand. Some of the executives of these subsidiaries also hold high-level positions at Bithumb Korea, the plaintiff reportedly said.

After founding an entity in Thailand back in 2018, Bithumb reportedly backed off on its plans in the country, allegedly causing significant damages to its Thailand partner. The plaintiff claims that Bithumb did not have any real intention to establish a crypto exchange in Thailand and that it attempted to sell its BXA coins by exaggerating the size of its global presence.

“After Bithumb stopped its BXA coin business, its Thai operation became unnecessary, so the company ended its business in Thailand unilaterally, causing serious damage to us,” the former Thai partner said. A spokesman for the firm noted that Bithumb Global Holdings and GBEX collectively own a 49% stake in the joint venture in Thailand and are fully-owned subsidiaries of Bithumb Korea.

The plaintiff elaborated that they decided to file lawsuits against Bithumb’s Hong Kong entities, as they are related to the Thailand issues more directly than other Bithumb subsidiaries.

The firm added that the company is considering filing a separate similar lawsuit on behalf of Bithumb’s former partner in Japan as well.

Bithumb did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

As previously reported, Bithumb has been involved in legal controversy over promoting its BXA token, which has never been launched or listed. Through BXA token sales, Lee Jung-hoon, chairperson of the board at Bithumb Korea and Bithumb Holdings, allegedly became involved in a major fraud causing investor damages of up to $25 million. Last year, South Korean authorities reportedly conducted multiple raids of Bithumb’s offices as part of a related investigation and a court action.

South Korean Crypto Exchange Bithumb Bans Employees from Trading Bitcoin

July 3, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Bithumb to ban employees from trading crypto on its platform

July 2, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bithumb

After introducing staff-related trading restrictions a while ago, Bithumb will soon completely ban its employees from using its platform to trade crypto.

Bithumb, a major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, is moving forward with trading restrictions for its employees by banning its staff from trading on its platform.

According to an official Friday announcement, Bithumb will completely ban its employees from buying or selling crypto using a Bithumb account starting this month.

The restriction intends to strengthen internal regulations and improve transaction transparency on Bithumb exchange, the company said. As part of the measure, staff members already sent written statements regarding account withdrawals last month. Additionally, the exchange will implement a permanent monitoring system including self-audits and an internal reporting system, the announcement notes.

The latest initiative follows a series of related staff restrictions on Bithumb, including a ban on trading during working hours and others. Bithumb noted that the company has also implemented a number of staff-related measures to prevent data leaks, unfair trade practices and market manipulation years ago.

A spokesperson for Bithumb denied providing additional information on the matter to Cointelegraph.

The news comes amid South Korea continuing to toughen its stance on regulating local crypto businesses, increasing the scope of oversight over the nation’s crypto exchange market.

The South Korean government set a deadline for cryptocurrency exchanges to register with local financial authorities until September 2021. In March, the FSC amended its financial reporting rules, requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to submit regular transactions reports with the Financial Intelligence Unit as well as to set up real-name accounts at Korean banks.

According to local reports, smaller South Korean exchanges have been considering suing the government over its alleged failure to to take responsibility for excessive regulatory pressure.

South Korea’s Financial Regulator Holds Closed-Door Meeting With 20 Crypto Exchanges

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South Korea’s ‘Kimchi Premium’ Returns, BTC Prices Up 8% Higher Than Global Average

May 24, 2021 Bitcoin.com

South Korea’s banking association alarmed by altcoin trading mania

May 10, 2021 Coin Telegraph

alt season

South Korea’s banking body wants crypto exchanges to be wary of the risks of being overexposed to altcoins.

The Korea Federation of Banks has raised alarm over the increase in altcoin trading volumes across crypto exchanges in the country.

According to a report by The Korea Herald on Monday, the banking association has asked member banks to conduct an audit on the altcoins being offered by their crypto exchange clients.

The KFB is reportedly concerned about the potential risks of banks providing account services to exchanges overexposed to altcoins.

An official of the banking association quoted by The Korea Herald explained:

“One of the criteria that we recommend is the safety of digital assets and that can be measured by the number of digital coins on an exchange. If an exchange deals with too many digital assets, it takes on more risks.”

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, there has been a noticeable pivot by crypto traders in South Korea toward altcoins. This shift coincided with a corresponding dip in Bitcoin (BTC) trading activity that had characterized the earlier part of the year, even leading to the collapse of the Kimchi premium.

Three of South Korea’s “Big Four” crypto exchanges — Upbit, Coinone and Bithumb — each list over 150 altcoins on their platforms. The KFB’s recommendation comes as BTC trading on these exchanges accounted for less than 5%, far lower than the average across other major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.

Indeed, as of the time of writing, only Coinone has Bitcoin trading activity occupying the top two positions in the last 24-hour period. Data from CoinMarketCap shows BTC trading on Upbit and Bithumb at 4.15% and 9.13%, respectively.

Under South Korea’s real-name crypto trading paradigm, the onus is on banks to maintain strict oversight over their cryptocurrency exchange clients, hence the reason for the KFB’s warning. The banking association also wants its members to be aware of the potential money laundering risks that could be associated with the current altcoin trading explosion.

South Korea’s altcoin trading surge is yet another piece of evidence in support of the alt season market cycle narrative. Indeed, Bitcoin's market capitalization dominance continues to decline and is now at its lowest level since July 2018.

Several major altcoins have set new all-time highs, with Ether (ETH) breaking the $4,000 milestone to deliver over 450% in year-to-date gains.

Top Korean crypto exchanges reopen brick-and-mortar customer centers

April 29, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bithumb

Both Coinone and Bithumb have reopened their customer centers in the capital city in response to a surge in domestic interest in cryptocurrencies.

Coinone, one of South Korea's top four cryptocurrency exchanges, has reopened its offline customer center in Seoul. According to a report from The Korea Herald on April 29, the center was initially opened back in September 2017 but had since been closed due to a company decision to focus on other business activities.

Now, having seen new crypto exchange user registrations increase at a rate of 20 times above usual in the first quarter of this year, the exchange is resuming its offline services for customers. As of the end of this month, the Herald reports that Coinone has close to 2 million users in total.

In addition to reopening an offline center, Coinone is reportedly doubling its staff to help meet the demands for information and assistance from a swath of new customers.

This trend toward resuming in-person customer services appears to be spreading in South Korea, with Bithumb — the country's second-largest, if recently troubled, exchange — also opening an offline center in the capital earlier this week. Fellow exchange Korbit is also reported to be mulling a similar move.

These developments mirror the bullish atmosphere in the South Korean cryptocurrency market, where the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has recently been trading at a renewed "Kimchi premium," surging to yearly highs. Cryptocurrency enthusiasm has also seemingly spread to domestic stock prices, with companies that hold stakes in some of the country's top crypto exchange operators witnessing significant gains in recent weeks.

Analysts have also predicted that South Korean conglomerate Kakao, which owns an equity stake in Upbit operator Dunamu and is itself actively engaged in the crypto and blockchain industry, is likely to reap the benefits of the Korean crypto bull market in the coming year.

South Korea’s Bitcoin ‘Kimchi Premium’ Reappears, Korbit and Bithumb Exchange Volumes Spike

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