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South Korean police reportedly raid Bithumb for second time

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Bithumb, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, is reportedly facing more police raids in Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has conducted additional search and seizure checks at Bithumb’s headquarters in the Gangnam District on Sept. 7, local publication Seoul Shinmun reports.

A police official reportedly said that the latest investigations aim to secure additional evidence related to existing allegations against Lee Jung-hoon, chairman of board at Bithumb Korea and Bithumb Holdings.

As reported by Cointelegraph, the executive is purportedly accused of major financial fraud involving the BXA token. Promoted as Bithumb’s native token, BXA token has been never launched or listed. Through promoting BXA token, Jung-hoon allegedly got involved in a high scale fraud that reportedly caused investor damages of 30 billion won ($25 million).

The latest police raids came shortly after Seoul police reportedly conducted initial investigations at Bithumb’s office on Sept. 2. Bithumb has not responded to Cointelegraph’s multiple inquiries to confirm or deny the news so far. This article will be updated pending any new information from Bithumb.

Alongside BXA-related investigations, Bithumb has been also troubled recently by the outcomes of a 2017 data breach incident. In early September 2020, a Judge in the Seoul Central District Court reportedly ruled that Bithumb was partially responsible for the incident.

Despite the reports, South Korea’s largest exchange keeps holding its position on the market. The crypto exchange is still the ninth-largest crypto exchange worldwide, according to data from crypto tracking tool Coin360. The reported daily trading volume accounts for about $250 million at publishing time, down around 2.7% over the past 24 hours.



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Regulation

File comments against new crypto FinCEN rule, Coin Center leader urges

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With the two-week commentary period winding down, Jerry Brito, executive director of non-profit crypto policy advocate group Coin Center, says comments could make a difference in the ultimate outcome of the self-custodied wallet ruling recently proposed by the U.S. Treasury. 

“Coin Center is working with folks in Congress to get some letters sent to Secretary Mnuchin requesting an extension to the rushed comment period,” Brito said in a Dec. 28 tweet, adding:

“Everyone in the cryptocurrency ecosystem should file a comment with FinCEN explaining how this rule would affect them and pointing out the unintended consequences. Filing a comment really does help.”

With his likely exit from office looming next month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dropped a regulatory proposal on the crypto space on Dec. 18. If passed, the new law would essentially mandate that U.S.-based crypto services must check users’ identities and their respective wallets whenever they withdraw over $3,000 to a self-custodied wallet, or if they move more than $10,000 to another platform.

Rather than the normal 60-day period, the regulatory body only left the crypto industry with a 15-day window for feedback on the proposal. Brito posited feedback from the crypto industry could help the situation by pushing back the deadline.

“Mnuchin wants to get this rule finalized before he leaves office on Jan 20,” Brito tweeted. “But FinCEN is required by law to consider every comment before finalizing the rule,” he added. “If there are a lot of substantive comments filed, they won’t be able to finalize the rule before Jan 20.”

Pushing the proposal’s decision date past Jan. 20 would leave the law undecided until after government leaders change seats. Delaying the proposal through that date would likely lead to a more thought-out legislation, according to Brito.

“Ideally you should write a unique, substantive letter that describes how the rule will affect you or your firm,” he added, pointing toward an example proposed on Twitter by Jake Chervinsky, general counsel for crypto project Compound. Comments need to be in to the Treasury by Jan. 4. Industry folks can also send in shorter remarks via a digital rights entity called Fight for the Future.

U.S. regulatory bodies have ramped up their engagement in the crypto space in 2020, evident in a number of headlines throughout the year.