Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, was recently raided by a South Korean prosecutor. Upbit’s announcement on its website on Friday confirmed the above investigation. Upbit said that it is “fully cooperating with” the relevant department’s investigation and said that customers can still execute transactions and access funds. Upbit is headquartered in Seoul.
Foreign media reported that the investigators conducted fraud investigations on Upbit’s concerns about improper disposal of investor funds, and raided Upbit’s main office last Thursday and Friday, and seized hard drives and account records.
After the news was announced, Bitcoin prices also received a shock and fell slightly. The current Bitcoin price is approximately US$8,700 and the total market value is approximately US$150 billion. The total market value of the entire cryptocurrency market is about 400 billion U.S. dollars.
In the past few months, South Korean regulators also searched several smaller cryptocurrency exchanges. At present, the regulatory agencies in various countries are strengthening the supervision of cryptocurrency exchanges. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun a large-scale investigation of the digital currency industry. The Japanese financial regulator sanctioned a number of cryptocurrency exchanges in March this year. Penalties included the suspension of two of them for one month.
