South Korea Exchanges Stop Trading of Certain Cryptos Amid Regulation Pressure

In order to operate in South Korea, exchanges now need an ISMS certificate issued by the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA). After receiving this certificate, 11 out of 20 crypto exchanges have either delisted certain coins, or issued warnings about them.

Although it’s been easier for high-volume crypto exchanges to find banks willing to vouch for them, smaller exchanges have been struggling to get their papers in order. The deadline for compliance is early September, by which time all crypto exchanges operating in South Korea must obtain the certificate or cease operations.

Dodgy Exchanges On Notice

According to The Korea Times, banks are now required to treat crypto exchanges as high-risk clients and will be required to deny service to crypto exchanges deemed dodgy. In addition, fines worth a total of US$89,519 have been issued to cryptocurrency exchange employees who trade on the platform they are employed by, in a bid to reduce unfair advantages.

Among the platforms delisting tokens are Upbit, Coinbit and Huobi.

Upbit has delisted tokens such as Paycoin, Maro, Observer, Solve.Care and Quiztok:

Upbit will always do its best for your safe transactions.

Coinbit Suspends Eight, Warns 28 More

Meanwhile, Coinbit has suspended the trade of eight other cryptocurrencies and set in place a warning for 28 more that will appear if a potential customer wants to trade those cryptocurrencies.

Huobi Token Delisted, but for How Long?

A curious case of delisting is Huobi. Despite being one of the first companies to get the necessary paperwork done, Huobi has halted the trade of its proprietary Huobi Token. There is no information on whether this is a temporary delisting or not.

The delisting of coins deemed risky by exchanges in South Korea seems to be part of a bigger trend in the APAC region, with Thailand also banning “meme coins” and some NFTs, and China subjecting cryptocurrencies to the usual scrutiny.