South Korean cryptocurrency-only exchange Cashierest to close its doors

South Korea is expected to lift its prohibition on initial coin offerings (ICOs), permitting companies to raise funds through digital token sales for the first time since 2017. The move would mark a reversal of the country’s strict regulatory stance, which was originally implemented to curb speculation and protect investors. Regulators had imposed the blanket ban citing a proliferation of projects with unclear fundamentals, fraud, and a lack of safeguards. Authorities at the time noted that unlike initial public offerings (IPOs)—which price shares based on corporate earnings and growth potential—ICOs lacked established standards for valuing the tokens themselves, making them difficult to assess.Photo by micheile henderson on UnsplashICO limited to qualified issuersAccording to a report by Newsis, the government is preparing to allow token issuance but will restrict eligibility to corporations that meet specific thresholds. Issuers would be required to submit documentation, including white papers, to financial authorities in advance and ensure these materials are available to investors. These requirements are expected to be codified in the Digital Asset Basic Act, a second-phase crypto bill currently under preparation. The report noted that the legislation aims to protect users and mitigate market risks by clearly defining accountability for potential failures. An official from the financial regulator stated that detailed criteria, such as minimum capital requirements, would be outlined in enforcement decrees after the bill is passed. Under the proposed rules, companies would be required to file a disclosure document with financial regulators. The requirement would mirror securities filings, but with a focus on public disclosure rather than regulatory approval. The Financial Services Commission would receive the filings, while the Financial Supervisory Service would examine them. Officials are also discussing measures to hold issuing companies fully liable should problems arise after issuance, reflecting the practical challenges involved in verifying the technical aspects of token projects in advance. The regulatory shift would allow South Korean companies to issue tokens at home instead of routing offerings through jurisdictions such as Singapore or Hong Kong. Until now, Korea-based issuers have typically set up overseas entities to conduct ICOs before seeking listings on domestic exchanges. The change is expected to encourage projects that previously went offshore to return to Korea. An industry official said the return of domestic token issuance would help tech companies raise early-stage funding at home and support the launch of new businesses. The move would also intensify competition among exchanges to attract promising projects, the official said, potentially broadening product offerings and lifting trading volumes. Japan plans ETFs, industry seeks faster rolloutAs South Korea moves to allow token issuance, Japan is also easing digital asset rules, though the industry has flagged the slow pace of change. According to local media reports, Japan’s Financial Services Agency plans to revise rules governing investment trusts to allow the inclusion of digital assets. This change would pave the way for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking spot crypto prices as early as 2028. Asset managers are already preparing for the shift. A Nikkei survey showed that as of last November, major firms, including Nomura Asset Management, SBI Global Asset Management, Daiwa, Asset Management One, Amova, and Mitsubishi UFJ, were considering the development of crypto-related investment trusts. However, the timeline has faced pushback. Tomoya Asakura, chief executive of SBI Global Asset Management, said on X that allowing crypto ETFs only from 2028 would be too slow for a country aiming to position itself as a global asset-management hub. He called for a faster rollout, arguing that such products could help channel household savings into investment. 

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, suffered a security breach on Nov. 27 that resulted in the theft of 44.5 billion won ($30.4 million) in digital assets, all taken from the exchange’s hot wallets. The stolen tokens were all Solana-based, and Upbit CEO Oh Kyoung-suk said in a statement that no users will incur losses, as the company will cover the full amount with its own reserves.Photo by FlyD on UnsplashHot-wallet breach hits 24 tokensThe exchange said in a statement that the compromised tokens were transferred to an unknown external wallet at around 7:42 p.m. UTC on Nov. 26. In total, 24 cryptocurrencies were affected, all within the Solana ecosystem. The stolen assets ranged from infrastructure tokens such as Solana (SOL) to staking-related assets like Jito (JTO), along with the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) and memecoins including Bonk (BONK), Moodeng (MOODENG), and Official Trump (TRUMP). According to Oh, the breach was followed by an emergency security review of the affected networks and wallets. He added that all remaining assets were moved to cold storage to prevent further unauthorized transfers. Oh also said the exchange is working to trace the stolen assets and block on-chain movements wherever possible, noting that Solayer (LAYER) tokens worth 2.3 billion won ($1.6 million) have already been frozen. Upbit is also reaching out to relevant projects and institutions for assistance. This marks Upbit’s second theft case. The first took place on Nov. 27, 2019, exactly six years ago to the day, according to News1. Authorities focus on Lazarus’ involvementFinancial authorities are investigating the incident, and North Korea’s Lazarus Group is being treated as the leading suspect, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported. Lazarus is also believed to have been behind the 58 billion won ($40 million) worth of Ethereum (ETH) stolen from Upbit in 2019. A government official told the paper that the latest breach did not appear to stem from a server intrusion but may have involved a stolen administrator account, allowing the attackers to impersonate internal staff and move assets—similar to the method used in the 2019 case. Security analysts echoed that assessment. One investigator said the stolen funds moved through exchange wallets before being mixed, a pattern often linked to Lazarus. He added that mixers, which are prohibited in Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-member jurisdictions, make tracing difficult and that attackers typically route assets through countries outside that framework, further pointing to North Korea. Following the incident, Upbit suspended deposits and withdrawals for all assets and said services will resume once security is fully verified. The halt has also affected trading dynamics on the exchange, with CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju noting that retail investors are fueling altcoin spikes as arbitrage bots remain offline. Dunamu, Naver set $6.8B growth planThe security crisis struck at a particularly sensitive moment for Upbit’s operator, Dunamu, overshadowing what was intended to be a celebratory corporate milestone. On that same day, Dunamu, Naver, and Naver Financial held a joint press conference to outline their global expansion strategy. Dunamu brings its blockchain and crypto infrastructure, Naver contributes its position as Korea’s dominant search engine, and Naver Financial adds its payment platform serving 34 million users. The event came after reports that Naver Financial and Dunamu had approved a merger plan through a comprehensive share swap, with the ratio set at 2.54 to 1. The three companies said they will combine their respective strengths to invest 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) over the next five years in building an ecosystem centered on Web3 and artificial intelligence (AI).During the press conference, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said no decisions have been made on a Nasdaq listing for the newly combined Naver Financial–Dunamu entity or on whether it might eventually merge with Naver, according to TechM. She said dual listings remain a matter requiring national consensus. Choi also noted that while Naver Financial is a Naver subsidiary, Dunamu is the larger partner, and a later merger between the combined entity and Naver is unlikely.

Creditcoin listed on UpbitCreditcoin (CTC) — an ERC20 token issued on the Creditcoin Network — was listed on South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit on Tuesday evening (KST), according to an official announcement on the Upbit website.Photo by Maxim Hopman on UnsplashThe token was initially listed on Upbit’s BTC trading market, then on the Korean won-denominated market (CTC/KRW) trading market shortly after. In the announcement, the exchange clarified that it can only be deposited through the Ethereum network and not others like BNB Smart Chain (BSC).Major growthUpbit is the third Korean exchange that CTC has been listed on after Bithumb and Gopax. “Through this listing on Upbit, we expect that CTC’s liquidity will be boosted significantly since it will be traded in a broader market,” said Gluwa, the developer of the Creditcoin Network. Notably, the token’s price jumped 171.14% in just a day following the listing. It is currently $0.64 as of this writing, according to CoinMarketCap.Revolutionizing RWA investmentsCTC tokens power the Creditcoin Network’s global real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem, which functions as a platform for connecting investors and fundraisers. Fundraisers initiate offers on the network, which are pegged with CTC, and investors can choose which offers to invest in based on assessing the risk by examining the fundraisers’ decentralized and public credit history. In this process, blockchain technology plays an important role by facilitating direct contact between fundraisers and investors, building a sustainable cryptocurrency ecosystem and allowing users to share credit history without disclosing personal information to centralized institutions or intermediaries.Since its major Creditcoin 2.0+ mainnet update that transitioned the protocol from a proof of work (PoW) to a fully nominated proof of stake (NPoS) consensus model, Creditcoin has experienced an increase in the number of network participants and the amount of staked CTC.