Our Weekly roundup East Asia Information highlights key advancements in the industry.
Bithumb In Turmoil
Yonhap Infomax reported on the 25th of January that the South Korean authorities had filed an arrest warrant for Kang Jong-Hyun, the president and sole proprietor of crypto exchange Bithumb, on charges of embezzlement. On the same day, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office charged Jong-Hyun and two other Bithumb executives with embezzlement, fraudulent transactions, and breach of faith.
The authorities stated that Kang had a significant role in manipulating the share price of Bithumb subsidiaries Inbiogen and Bucket Studio through the issuance of convertible bonds.
Bithumb is one of the largest crypto exchanges in South Korea. Its former chairman Lee Jung-Hoon was acquitted last month of a $70 million fraud charge stemming from his actions. Bithumb’s largest shareholder, Park Mo, died on December 30. Bithumb’s related firms may also be under investigation by the National Tax Service for tax compliance.
Binance Annual Report 2022
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance released its annual report on January 19, stating that it had received more than 47,000 inquiries from law enforcement in the past year. The exchange said that such requests were processed in record time, and that it was the first blockchain firm to join the National Cyber Forensics and Training Alliance, a non-profit cybercrime-fighting unit based in Pittsburgh.
In response to the inquiries, Binance said that it had increased its security personnel headcount by over 500%, and had hosted 70 law enforcement workshops around the world in 2022 in order to combat crypto-related financial crime.
Noting that security incidents are inevitable, Binance also said that it could tap funds from its $1 billion SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users) Consumer Insurance Program to offset losses. The exchange also tightened its listing requirements, such as those for NFTs, and said that it would remove all NFTs previously listed since October 2 that had an average daily trading volume of less than $1,000 from November 1 to January 31.
In January 2022, we established that the SAFU had a value of $1 billion. Due to market conditions in 2022, that figure was $735 million. As of November 2022, we had surpassed the SAFU balance and returns up to $1 billion. We made a promise to our customers, and to the larger crypto ecosystem, that the SAFU would always maintain a significant level.
The exchange also received 14 licenses and registrations from regulatory authorities. Other highlights include the $1 billion FTX pledge to a trade recovery fund after the collapse of the FTX and the $500 million funding to WeBlockchain ventures and b3 through Binance Labs. Although it doesn’t have a corporate office, the exchange’s governing authority is the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center for legal disputes. According to some reports, its servers are also located in Japan.
Busan City Cryptocurrency Exchange
As Initially reported by local news outlet News 1 Korea, The city of Busan is working to establish a decentralized digital assets exchange that will be in place by the end of this year. According Municipal officials will be able to purchase and sell tokenized intellectual properties rights for movies and video games. They can also buy and sell tokenized intellectual property rights for agricultural and livestock products, ships, real estate, and gold. The Busan Digital Asset Exchange Establishment Promotion Committee In the near future, plans are in place to collaborate with domestic financial institutions and to conduct system tests.
Bybit’s Genesis Exhibition
In A Twitter Thread on January 20 aware According Ben ZhouCEO of Singaporean cryptocurrency exchange ByBit: The blockchain government clarified its position after being asked about the $151 million publicity that was given to a bankrupt crypto lender. Genesis Global. As Advisory by ZhouPublicity amount is prohibited MiranaByBit’s financing arm, and those $120,000,000 of collateralized positions, out of the $151,000,000 publicity amount “had already been liquidated.”
Zhou Claims that Mirana Only manages “some” Assets of ByBit and the customer funds are separated. Furthermore, Zhou Mentioned ByBit Earn products don’t use Mirana. Genesis Global Finalized freeze on withdrawals NovemberCite “unprecedented market conditions,” Submitted for Chapter January 20, who allegedly owe $3.5 billion more than 50 creditors.
The Bitzlato Dirty Money Trail
According To a Reuters Report on Jan. 24. Binance The $346 million in value was allegedly transferred by the alleged accomplice Bitcoin For the now-defunct Hong Kong Changes in cryptocurrency Bitzlato. Binance It was also reportedly one the largest counterparties to this exchange. On January 23, Europol It was acknowledged that $19.5million in enforcement actions had been taken against Bitzlato.
Last The week United States Department Of Justice A major global cryptocurrency enforcement action was initiated against Bitzlato The latter is accused of laundering $700,000,000 in funds tied to the dark net. Hydra Finance. Russian illicit Its founder, Anatoly Legkodymov, Russian Citizen and resident ChinaHe was taken into custody Miami On January 18 on the charges of operating as a money transmitter, without a licence. Since The exchange was then shut down.
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