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- Seoul police is purportedly investigating South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Bithumb.
- The investigation is related to suspicion of investment fraud related to the issuance of BXA token.
On September 2, the police began an investigation on Bithumb-a large cryptocurrency exchange-in its Gangnam based office, reports local news portal Seoul Shinmun. The average number of visitors on Bithumb from May to July was 4.11 million, notably the largest in Korea.
Bithumb, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, was founded in 2014 by Javier Sim and is one of the country’s most influential digital currency exchanges. The crypto platform uses resources and technology to provide a range of services and solutions about crypto assets, including digital asset exchange, digital asset issuance, Blockchain project incubation, and decentralized financing services. As reported in June, the company was allegedly planning to hold an initial public offering amidst regulatory restrictions.
Through the ongoing search, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit is now confiscating and searching the location on charges of fraud. The report also states that Bithumb’s owner Lee Jung-hoon, chairman of the board of directors of Bithumb Holdings and Bithumb Korea, has been under the police’s radar on account of fraud and escape property abroad for a while now.
Seoul Metropolitan Government authorities have shared that the search for seizure is related to suspicion of investment fraud linked to the issuance of BXA token. This cryptocurrency was allegedly endorsed as Bithumb’s native token. The project turned out to be just another crypto scam that caused investors losses worth approximately $25 million.
That’s not all about the Bithumb controversy. Around last year, Bithumb Holdings chief Lee Jung Hoon was sued for money-related fraud due to multiple entangled acquisitions involving a Singapore subsidiary called BTHMB Holdings.
A couple of weeks back in August, Bithumb announced the launch of a learning portal called ‘BG Learning,’ which uses new crypto investors’ capacity to make well planned and informed decisions regarding putting their money in digital assets.
Of late, quite a few cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have come under Seoul police’s radar on account of fraud. For instance, recently, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reportedly raided and seized the operations of Coinbit, the country’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, which allegedly generated around $85 million by running a scam.
