• Bithumb, a South Korean crypto exchange, had its offices raided on Thursday
• The raid is related to an investigation into suspected price manipulation of an unidentified coin
• The Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office stated that this investigation had nothing to do with Bithumb
On Thursday, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb was subjected to a raid by authorities. This raid, according to a report by Yonhap, was conducted in order to investigate potential price manipulation of an unidentified coin listed on the exchange. The prosecutors stated that the investigation was related to a specific individual or entity who may have been manipulating the coin’s price in order to profit from it.
In a statement, the Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office made it clear that the investigation was not related to Bithumb, but rather focused on securing transaction details of the specific coin in question. It has not yet been revealed which coin was being investigated, however it is known that the raid was conducted on the exchange.
This latest development is yet another problem for Bithumb, which has been facing multiple legal woes in recent times. In October 2020, the exchange asked the Seoul Central District Court to freeze $48 million in funds held by its holding company, BTC Korea.com. This came after the exchange was fined $6.2 million by the South Korean Fair Trade Commission the previous month for providing unfair services to its customers.
Bithumb has also been implicated in a number of other legal troubles. In June 2020, the Seoul Central District Court ordered the exchange to pay a former employee a total of $400,000 in back wages. This followed a lawsuit that was launched by the employee in 2018 over unpaid wages. Furthermore, in April 2020, the exchange was forced to pay back taxes of $28 million after the South Korean government classified it as a “miscellaneous service provider”.
The raid on Bithumb’s offices is only the latest in a string of legal troubles for the exchange, and it remains to be seen what the outcome of the investigation will be. The exchange’s reputation has already been damaged by its multiple run-ins with the law, and this latest incident is sure to further tarnish its image. It is yet another reminder of the importance of compliance in the cryptocurrency industry, and that exchanges must adhere to the relevant laws and regulations if they are to remain operational.