Bithumb, a major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, is moving forward with trading restrictions for its employees by banning its staff from trading on its platform. According to an official Friday announcement, Bithumb will completely ban its employees from buying or selling crypto using a Bithumb account starting this month. The restriction intends to strengthen internal regulations and improve transaction transparency on Bithumb exchange, the company said. As part of the measure, staff members already sent written statements regarding account withdrawals last month. Additionally, the exchange will implement a permanent monitoring system including self-audits and an internal reporting system, the announcement …

Bids for Klaytn's native cryptocurrency KLAY spiked on Thursday after the South Korea-based public blockchain project confirmed its listing on Binance, one of the world's top cryptocurrency exchanges by volume. #Binance Will List @klaytn_official $KLAYhttps://t.co/41yyLvHS0I — Binance (@binance) June 24, 2021 The KLAY/USDT exchange rate surged 41.25% to an intraday high of $1.243. The pair's massive move uphill accompanied a dramatic intraday spike in trade volumes — 28.68 million so far into Thursday versus 13.05 million in the previous session, validating the bullish sentiment across the Klaytn market. The gains came on the prospect of Klaytn's global expansion after its …

Coinone, one of South Korea’s top four cryptocurrency exchanges, has reopened its offline customer center in Seoul. According to a report from The Korea Herald on Thursday, the center was initially opened back in September 2017 but had since been closed due to a company decision to focus on other business activities. Now, having seen new crypto exchange user registrations increase at a rate of 20 times above usual in the first quarter of this year, the exchange is resuming its offline services for customers. As of the end of this month, the Herald reports that Coinone has close to …

A smart contract platform aimed at the decentralized finance market seeks to make it easy to transfer decentralized applications from clogged, expensive Ethereum to Polkadot. The open-source project’s goal is to create easy-to-use blockchain infrastructure that will improve the interoperability of cross-chain assets, attracting developers of DeFi projects. Clover Finance wants to build a one-stop infrastructure platform that will make it simpler and less expensive for developers of DeFi projects to migrate their DApps onto Polkadot, a potential Ethereum killer that achieves scalability by running many blockchains in parallel, each with its own design and each serving a specific purpose …

The crypto markets in South Korea have long stood out from the rest of the world, and a lot of this has to do with the “Kimchi premium,” which often causes Bitcoin (BTC) to trade on local exchanges at much higher prices than what’s seen elsewhere. Now, one cutting-edge platform is aiming to capitalize on the fervent interest for digital assets in the country, with an ambitious expansion of its services that sit at the crossroads between cryptocurrencies and gaming. GamerHash says it has already amassed more than 570,000 users in three years and is now planning to make inroads …

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is continuing to range between $56,000 and $60,000, as the so-called "Kimchi premium" is surging to yearly highs. Kimchi premium forms when Bitcoin is trading at a higher price in South Korea over other major markets like the United States. In 2017, the Kimchi premium surpassed 20%, causing Bitcoin to trade at around $24,000 in South Korea while it topped at nearly $20,000 in the U.S. Last week, on March 29, this premium resurfaced, hovering at 6%, which has since climbed to around 11%. Kimchi premium is at 11%, is this bad for Bitcoin? The …

Major South Korean internet company Naver has reportedly begun negotiations to acquire a stake in the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb. Naver has discussed a potential equity stake acquisition with major Bithumb stakeholder Vidente, local publication the Maeil Business Newspaper reported Monday, citing several unnamed sources. Naver is the provider of South Korea’s largest search engine and Line messenger, and is reportedly seeking to expand its platform’s presence in the country’s fintech market. The internet giant is reportedly planning to add Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment option on its payment services Naver Pay as well as Line Pay in Japan …

According to Korean media, U.S.-based multinational investment banking giant Morgan Stanley is rumored to be negotiating the acquisition of a significant share in leading Korean cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb. The news was reported on March 18 by Aju News, with Bithumb reportedly in discussions with major Bithumb shareholder, Bident — who owns a roughly 10% stake in Bithumb Korea. A March 19 article from leading local search engine Naver states that Morgan Stanley is planning to invest between 300 and 500 billion Korean won ($254 million to $441 million). The report cited an anonymous senior Bithumb representative as stating, “Morgan Stanley …

South Korean crypto exchanges that don't take extensive data collection and identity verification measures could soon be subject to heavy fines. According to an official announcement Wednesday, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has come up with a revised proposal for the regulation of virtual assets service providers, or VASPs. The proposal introduces new VASP penalty standards as well as simplifying and integrating existing penalty rules for the industry. As part of the revised proposal, the FSC will be able to fine VASPs for failure to report and record suspicious transactions. Fines will vary depending on the severity and character of …

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is toughening its approach to Anti-Money Laundering enforcement with a series of new measures that include trading restrictions, stronger Know Your Customer checks, and specialized blockchain intelligence solutions. The popular exchange, which has an estimated average of 1 million daily users and a daily transaction volume worth 5–7 billion ($4.4–6.2 million), had a troubled 2020 beset by police investigations over allegations of fraud. After a series of reported negotiations with various firms for a potential acquisition, major gaming conglomerate Nexon denied it was planning to acquire Bithumb earlier this year. The Korean Herald today cites …

Major gaming conglomerate Nexon will not be acquiring leading South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, as previously alleged in local media. In an email to Cointelegraph, a representative for Nexon said that the firm "has not invested in Bithumb and has no plans to acquire that company." The email clarified that claims to the contrary resulted from "an inaccurate news account last week," adding "We cannot comment on the investment plans of other companies." The prospective sale of the exchange has reportedly been on the agenda since late August 2020, with preliminary bidding ostensibly held in September 2020. Yet the process, …

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s new token, Efforce (WOZX), almost doubled in price today after an astonishing run that saw the price increase around 26 times in the past week. WOZX will open for trading on South Korea-based exchange Bithumb on Dec. 9, and is already up 2,490% since first being listed on the HBTC exchange on Dec. 3. It opened at $0.10 per token and is currently trading at $2.59. Ethereum blockchain token WOZX is a way to securitize energy savings. The token has a total supply of one billion and was sold via private funding rounds conducted earlier this …