The financial authorities imposed sanctions on Upbit, the largest virtual asset transaction exchange in the country. Upbit will face a ban on the transfer of virtual assets for new customers for three months, and there have been dismissals of staff, including compliance officers.
On the 25th, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission notified Upbit of identity sanctions against nine employees, including dismissal of compliance officers, along with partial suspension of operations for violating obligations related to transactions with unreported virtual asset service providers. Upbit's operational suspension will run from July 7 to June 6.
The reason for the partial operational suspension is the violation of the obligation to prohibit transactions with unreported virtual asset service providers. The FIU's virtual asset inspection division conducted on-site inspections for anti-money laundering on Dunamu twice from August to October last year. The inspection results revealed that Dunamu supported 44,948 transaction transfers related to 19 overseas unreported virtual asset service providers.
Alongside this, Dunamu was found to have violated customer verification obligations under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. According to the enforcement decree of the Act, virtual asset transaction exchanges must limit transactions for customers whose verification measures have not been completed. However, Dunamu has allowed transactions from customers who submitted identification documents that were unusable, such as those with unclear photographs. The number of such customer verification violations is 34,777.
It has also been confirmed that there were 5,785 cases where the detailed address was left blank or improperly recorded, and customers input unrelated information while completing the customer verification. In response, the FIU notified sanctions against employees, including a reprimand warning against CEO Lee Seok-woo and the dismissal of two employees (reporting officer, compliance officer), as well as reprimands for five team leaders and cautions for two team leaders.
In addition, administrative fines will be imposed separately. The FIU stated, "Regarding fines imposed on Dunamu not included in this sanction proposal, final decisions will be made after discussions on future FIU sanctions." Dunamu said, "We empathize with the intent of the financial authorities' sanctions and will discuss future measures carefully," but added, "Transactions for existing or new users of virtual assets will be conducted normally."