Briefly
- South Korean police have booked Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won as a bribery suspect over allegedly hiring a legislator’s kinfolk.
- Nationwide Meeting member Kim Byung-ki allegedly requested the hiring whereas serving on a committee overseeing monetary regulation.
- Police have raided Bithumb headquarters twice in 2026 as a part of the corruption investigation.
South Korean police have booked Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won on suspicion of bribery for allegedly hiring the relative of a neighborhood lawmaker.
In response to studies in native media, the alleged scheme facilities on Nationwide Meeting member Kim Byung-ki, an impartial lawmaker who served on the Political Affairs Committee overseeing monetary regulation.
Kim allegedly requested the Bithumb CEO rent his second son throughout a November 2024 restaurant assembly in Seoul’s Mapo district. His son joined Bithumb in January 2025 and labored there for roughly six months, in response to native studies. Investigators allege Kim then exploited his legislative place by repeatedly focusing on Bithumb competitor Dunamu throughout committee proceedings.
Seoul police executed search warrants at Bithumb headquarters on February 24 and once more on June 8 because the investigation intensified.
The bribery investigation represents only one aspect of a broader corruption probe. Kim faces 13 separate suspicions together with nomination bribery and has been summoned by police roughly seven occasions.
Bithumb’s authorized troubles prolong past the hiring scandal. South Korean monetary regulators issued a $24.5 million superb and six-month partial suspension order to the alternate in March for anti-money laundering and know-your-customer compliance deficiencies. A court docket briefly blocked the suspension in late April after Bithumb challenged the choice.
Bithumb, which processed $441 million in buying and selling quantity over the previous day per CoinGecko knowledge, competes instantly with Dunamu-operated Upbit for market dominance in South Korea’s digital asset sector. The alternate has confronted a number of regulatory storms this yr, with the court-ordered keep on its six-month enterprise suspension coming after lawmakers criticized regulators over a $43 billion Bitcoin show error affecting hundreds of customers.
The alleged bribery case provides to a sample of corruption circumstances in Korea’s crypto sector, together with a current case the place a police officer concerned in investigating crypto fraud circumstances was sentenced to 6 years for accepting bribes.
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