The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a crime monitoring and prevention body under South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, fined cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb 36 billion won (about $24.5 million) for anti-money laundering (AML) violations.

 

The fine follows an on-site inspection of the exchange conducted by the regulator in March and April last year, which found that Bithumb had violated the Specific Financial Information Act 6.65 million times. The act requires exchanges to restrict transactions with unregistered virtual asset service providers, block suspicious transactions, and verify their customers.

 

Bithumb was also found to have violated the Act on Reporting and Use of Financial Information by facilitating 45,772 cryptocurrency transactions with 18 unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers and cryptocurrency firms. Despite repeated warnings from the regulator, Bithumb failed to take corrective action.

 

"We have continuously requested Bithumb to stop trading with undeclared overseas virtual asset service providers, but it failed to fulfill its legal compliance obligations and demonstrated a markedly insufficient willingness to comply with the law, such as failing to implement effective blocking measures over an extended period," the FIU explained. 

 

In addition to the $24 million fine imposed by the regulator, Bithumb has been ordered to halt all external crypto transfers for new customers from March 27 to Sept. 26. The ban, however, does not affect existing customers trading on the exchange.

 

Despite facing the largest fine ever imposed on a South Korean exchange, Bithumb said it would address the issues highlighted. "We will resolve the issues identified in this inspection and do our best to create a safe trading environment and protect users," the company said.

 

 

South Korea Cracks Down on Compliance Violators

South Korea has been cracking down on compliance violators, particularly cryptocurrency exchanges that breach Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. In November 2025, the country fined its largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, 35.2 billion won (approximately $25 million) and imposed a three-month partial suspension after the exchange failed to comply with AML and KYC rules.

 

On December 31, 2025, the FIU fined Korbit 2.73 billion won ($1.9 million) and issued a stern institutional warning to the exchange’s executives following a compliance audit that revealed weaknesses in its anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) procedures.

 

The FIU is currently conducting an on-site review of Coinone, which is expected to conclude later this year. Although there are unconfirmed reports that the agency has already flagged violations, no official report or penalties have been issued.

 

 

A Coinbase shareholder has filed a derivative lawsuit against several top executives and board members of the crypto exchange, alleging compliance and disclosure failures by the company’s leadership. 

 

On Tuesday, Kevin Meehan, one of Coinbase’s shareholders, filed a complaint in a U.S. district court in New Jersey. The court filing cited several of Coinbase’s top directors, including CEO Brian Armstrong, co-founder Fred Ehrsam, Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, and Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas, among other executives.

 

Image credit: PACER

 

 

According to the filing, the plaintiff accused the defendants of making false and misleading statements between April 2021, when the exchange became a publicly traded company, and June 2023. The complainant alleged that a compliance failure by the exchange's leadership exposed the company to several stringent regulatory actions.

 

On behalf of Coinbase, the complainant, Kevin, is seeking damages, requesting that the court implement corporate governance reforms, and requesting recovery of any profits the exchange's leadership may have obtained during the period when the exchange faced these compliance cases.

 

However, since this is a shareholder derivative lawsuit, any financial recovery from Coinbase's directors will go to Coinbase rather than directly to the shareholders.

 

 

Coinbase Battle With Compliance

Over the past few years, Coinbase has faced several legal and compliance challenges, paying millions of dollars in damages and penalties. 

 

In January 2023, the New York State Department of Financial Services sued the exchange for major failures in its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program. The regulator accused Coinbase of having weak Know-Your-Customer (KYC) checks and failing to properly review suspicious transactions.

 

As part of the settlement, Coinbase agreed to pay $100 million: $50 million in penalties and $50 million to improve its compliance checks and systems.

 

In June 2023, Coinbase was hit with a $5 million penalty by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities. The regulator accused the exchange of allowing the trading of unregistered securities on its platform, prompting several other states to impose restrictions on its staking services at the time.

 

Coinbase has also faced legal challenges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging it operated an unregistered exchange. Following the announcement, Coinbase’s stock dropped sharply, falling from over $60 to under $50 within minutes of the news breaking.