Trending Now - South Korea Enforces 5-minute Verification for Crypto Exchanges
WHO:
NewsBTC - Bithumb, South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC), Digital Asset Exchange Alliance
Cointelegraph - Major crypto exchanges in South Korea
WHAT:
NewsBTC - Bithumb's stock market listing plans have been pushed back at least three years from its original 2025 target.
NewsBTC - Bithumb will spend 2027 focused on tightening its financial policies and controls before attempting to go public again.
NewsBTC - High-risk activities, such as promotional payouts, will require third-party reviews and sign-off from multiple internal levels before proceeding.
NewsBTC - Monthly audits will replace quarterly reviews for exchanges, as mandated by the new regulations.
NewsBTC - Bithumb has delayed its stock market listing to at least 2028, citing the need to overhaul its accounting systems and internal controls.
NewsBTC - Bithumb has engaged advisory firm Samjong KPMG to assist in tightening its financial policies and controls in 2027.
NewsBTC - The Financial Services Commission and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance plan to finish drafting the updated rules for crypto exchanges by the end of April 2026.
NewsBTC - South Korea's FSC announced that all crypto exchanges must reconcile their internal records with actual asset holdings every five minutes.
NewsBTC - Bithumb accidentally sent 620,000 Bitcoin to 249 users during a rewards promotion in February 2026.
NewsBTC - Bithumb recovered 99.7% of the mistakenly sent Bitcoin the same day and covered the remaining 1,788 BTC with company funds.
NewsBTC - Three of South Korea's five largest exchanges were found to be checking their books only once every 24 hours.
NewsBTC - New rules require exchanges to build automated systems for matching ledger records to wallet balances every five minutes.
NewsBTC - High-risk activities will require third-party reviews and multiple internal approvals.
NewsBTC - Monthly audits will replace quarterly reviews for exchanges.
NewsBTC - Exchanges must publish detailed breakdowns of asset balances by wallet and ledger.
WHERE:
NewsBTC - South Korea
WHEN:
NewsBTC - The deadline for the Financial Services Commission and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance to finish drafting the updated rules is set for April 30th, 2026.
NewsBTC - The shareholder vote for Naver Financial's share swap with Dunamu has been delayed by about three months, now set for August 18th, 2026, with the deal expected to close by September 30th, 2026.
NewsBTC - The FSC's directive was announced on Monday, April 4th, 2026.
NewsBTC - Bithumb's listing plans have been pushed back to at least 2028.
NewsBTC - A shareholder vote for Naver Financial's share swap with Dunamu is set for August 18th, 2026, with the deal expected to close by September 30th, 2026.
WHY:
NewsBTC - The new regulations were prompted by an emergency inspection following Bithumb's February 2026 blunder, which revealed inadequate systems for detecting discrepancies.
HOW:
NewsBTC - Exchanges are required to implement automated systems that match ledger records to actual wallet balances every five minutes and set thresholds for automatic trading halts when discrepancies are detected.
(UPDATED April 8, 2026 15:22 UTC)
Bithumb's plans to list on the stock market have been delayed by at least three years, pushing the target to 2028. In the meantime, the company will focus on tightening its financial policies and controls, implementing new regulations that require high-risk activities to undergo third-party reviews and monthly audits instead of quarterly ones. The deadline for the Financial Services Commission and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance to finalize these updated rules is set for April 30th.
--
(UPDATED April 8, 2026 13:22 UTC)
Bithumb has announced a delay in its stock market listing until at least 2028, as the company works on overhauling its accounting systems and internal controls with the help of advisory firm Samjong KPMG. Meanwhile, the Financial Services Commission and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance are on track to finalize updated rules for crypto exchanges by the end of April 20th26. In another development, the shareholder vote for Naver Financial's share swap with Dunamu has been postponed by about three months, now scheduled for August 18th, with the deal expected to close by September 30th.
--
(UPDATED April 8, 2026 07:20 UTC)
on Saturday, South Korea's Financial Services Commission announced new regulations requiring all crypto exchanges to reconcile their internal records with actual asset holdings every five minutes, following an emergency inspection prompted by Bithumb's accidental distribution of 620,000 Bitcoin during a rewards promotion in February. Bithumb managed to recover 99.7% of the mistakenly sent Bitcoin the same day and will now face stricter oversight, including monthly audits and the need for automated systems to match ledger records to wallet balances. Additionally, high-risk activities will require third-party reviews and multiple internal approvals, as three of South Korea's five largest exchanges were found to be checking their records only once every 24 hours.