The officials said that on Monday prosecutors snapped two South Korean local cryptocurrency exchanges. A team of Prosecutors from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors captured the crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb.
South Korean Authorities Raid Upbit
Under the investigation of suspicion of snowballing activities around the digital assets of the independent lawmaker, Kim Nam-Kuk a statement has been made. The officials said that on Monday prosecutors snapped two South Korean local cryptocurrency exchanges.
A team of Prosecutors from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors captured the crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb. A report from Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, gave the information. The report also said that this capture was made for the transaction records and other materials. It is believed that Kim operates his digital assets on Upbit and Bithumb.
Kim resigned on May 14, 2023, from his political party. This incident took place just after the raid. Kim’s resignation is given for several reasons, one of which is multiple allegations against him. Many allegations are a part of the suspicious crypto dealings during his tenure of digital asset legislation in time from May to November 2022.
The former lawmaker informed everyone via his Facebook post that Kim did not tell any of his party members about the same because he did not want to burden them with the controversies in his crypto dealings. He also claimed that the media had false reports and that he would clarify the truth.
Before the “Travel Rule” was imposed by the Financial Action Task Force, Kim liquidated his assets worth about $4 million. This information was given by the newspaper, The Korea Times on May 8. Also, Kim supported a bill that will procrastinate a 20% capital gain tax on cryptocurrency from 2023 to 2025.
Kim in his defense said that he has not cashed out his digital assets and instead transferred them to another exchange. Lawmakers backing Kim said that he is not obliged to report such activities. Yonhap’s report says that approx 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021 were owned by South Korean politicians.
Local regulators are closely watching Bithumb in recent months. Bithumb is being watched because Kim had his funds in it.
The exchange’s biggest shareholder executive was alleged of crimes like stock price manipulation and embezzlement. Shortly after these allegations, he was found dead in December 2022. Soon after this, in Jan 2023 Bithumb offices were raided and regulators subjected it to a probe.
Later on Feb 2, 2023, the owner of the exchange was arrested and accused of crimes like market manipulation, fraudulent transactions, and additional charges of dereliction of duty.
All these events were a result of authorities cracking down on local crypto activity. South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea was granted permission to open and investigate the crypto-currency-related businesses. Under this, the banks will now be able to keep a look at all the crypto exchanges taking place in the country.
Soon after that, legislators passed a proposal for an initial review of cryptocurrency regulations. This gave the Financial Services Commission permission to investigate and supervise any digital asset-related activity. This also allowed harsh sentencing recommendations.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/05/16/upbit-bithumb-raided-over-lawmakers-crypto-exchange/