Bithumb faces sanctions review, users may face unfair trading charges

South Korean financial authorities are considering sanctions against the Bithumb exchange following a recent large-scale erroneous payment incident, Newsis reported. Although a comprehensive digital asset law addressing internal control responsibilities is not yet in place, regulators plan to utilize the existing Virtual Asset User Protection Act to the fullest extent possible. According to financial industry sources, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin stated at a recent meeting that authorities are assessing whether any aspects of the incident violate the current user protection law. He explained that individuals who knowingly sold the mistakenly distributed Bitcoin for profit could be subject to unfair trading charges under the act. This is because the intentional mass-selling of the erroneously sent Bitcoin is seen as an act that caused a price decline and harmed other investors, which can be defined as unfair trading.