South Korea’s Upbit Faces Scrutiny for KYC Violations Amid License Renewal

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As an analyst with over two decades of experience in financial markets, I’ve seen my fair share of regulatory issues and compliance lapses. The revelation of KYC violations at Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is a stark reminder that even the most successful players can stumble when it comes to adhering to regulations.

In simpler terms, it’s been found that Upbit, South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has not followed the required customer identification procedures in about 500,000 to 600,000 instances during their customer due diligence. These oversights were discovered during the renewal of their license.

Based on a local news source, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) discovered that certain accounts were established with unclear identification documents, while others didn’t have sufficient verification at all. Such infractions might lead to penalties of up to 100 million won ($71,740), and may create difficulties during Upbit’s license renewal procedure.

In the past day, Upbit, a global digital asset exchange ranked fifth by CoinMarketCap, handled over $7.7 billion in trades. Remarkably, they reported a staggering trading volume of approximately $48.2 billion just last month alone. However, this market powerhouse is now under closer examination due to increased scrutiny.

The head of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in South Korea, Kim Byung-hwan, has promised to examine the monopolistic makeup of the country’s cryptocurrency market, with Upbit holding a significant portion of the market share. A recent KYC compliance issue could lead to increased regulatory scrutiny and potentially disrupt Upbit’s business activities.

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2024-11-15 15:48