South Korean regulators have fined cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb $24.5 million and imposed a six-month partial business suspension. The penalties follow an investigation that identified millions of anti-money laundering violations, including failures in customer verification and transactions with unregistered overseas platforms. This marks the largest fine yet for a South Korean crypto exchange amid a broader regulatory crackdown.
South Korean authorities have fined Bithumb $24.5 million and ordered a six-month partial suspension of its services. The Financial Intelligence Unit identified about 6.65 million AML violations during an inspection, including failures in customer identity verification and record-keeping.
Regulators found Bithumb facilitated 45,772 crypto transfers involving 18 unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers. The FIU decided on the penalties after a sanctions committee reviewed the exchange’s compliance with financial reporting laws.
From March 27 to September 26, Bithumb will be banned from processing external crypto transfers for new customers. Existing users face no trading restrictions, and new customers can still trade or deposit Korean won.
The FIU stated it had repeatedly warned Bithumb to halt transactions with unregistered overseas crypto firms. “The exchange failed to comply and was unable to implement effective blocking measures,” the regulator said.
This action is part of a broader AML enforcement drive targeting South Korean exchanges. In February 2025, Upbit received a $23.5 million fine and a three-month restriction on new customer deposits and withdrawals.
The crackdown later reached exchange Korbit, which was fined $1.8 million in December 2025. Korbit also received an institutional warning for AML and customer-verification breaches.
