UpBit’s operations in South Korea may be suspended for up to six months, the FIU said in the notice. During this period, the platform will be prohibited from registering new clients, but existing users will be able to continue trading.
The FIU carried out the review after UpBit applied to renew its license in August. The agency found nearly 700,000 cases of alleged violations related to the customer identification procedure. The FIU did not renew the exchange’s license because the South Korean authorities needed more time to check possible violations of the KYC procedure.
The platform could face a fine of up to 100 million Korean won (about $71,500) for each violation. The total fine could rise to 35.8 billion Korean won (about $27 million). The FIU is also looking into whether UpBit violated its rules for serving foreign traders, as South Korean exchanges are required to only serve traders with a verified real name.
UpBit management must send a response to FIU by January 20. After considering the response, the FIU will make a final decision on whether to suspend or continue the operation of the exchange.
In 2023, UpBit received preliminary approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which allowed the platform to provide services related to digital payment tokens (DPT) to institutional investors.
Source: Bits
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