S Korean Exchange to ‘Boost Restrictions’ on Deposits, Withdrawals

South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges could be set to police their customers more thoroughly, as platforms in the country look set to fall in line with regulatory pressure.

Per ZDNet Korea, the Korbit exchange says it will “strengthen its restrictions on deposits and withdrawals through Fraud Detection System services, a customer rating program and anti-money laundering measures.”

The announcement comes days after the country’s regulatory Financial Services Commission said it intended to follow recent Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations by bringing in a licensing system for cryptocurrency exchanges.

Korbit also says it will resume customer bank deposits in Korean won with Shinhan Bank on August 12 after a pause of two months.

The exchange is one of the country’s “big four” platforms, but pulled the plug on customer transfers to bank accounts, stating that it wanted to respond to the increasing threat of voice phishing and incidents of attempted fraud.

Korbit successfully extended its banking contract with Shinhan late last month, but customers have found themselves unable to withdraw won from bank accounts linked with their exchange accounts since June, while Korbit made security improvements, centralized its customer protection network and shored up its anti-money laundering measures.

However, there is room for some (albeit guarded) optimism for South Korea’s crypto-community, as the exchange stated that it was ready to “dive back into the industry in earnest” now it had resolved its bank issues.

Last month, Korbit owner Kim Jung-ju withdrew his decision to sell his business empire, which also comprises the Bitstamp exchange and gaming giant Nexon. Earlier this week, ZDNet Korea also reported that Kim is instead restructuring his network of companies, making new high-ranking hires and expanding business operations in a number of business areas.

Meanwhile, Korbit rival Bithumb appears to be continuing with its overseas business expansion plans. Per, News1 the RDMChain-run Bitholic exchange, which opened in May last year, will change its name to Bithumb Singapore. Neither party has yet been forthcoming about what changes – if any – have been made to Bitholic’s equity structure, but Bithumb has confirmed the name-change.

Bithumb is also owned by a Singapore-based operator, the BK Group, and Bitholic’s CEO is a former Bithumb director.