South Korea raids Bithumb amid ex-CEO’s alleged $2M embezzlement

Update March 20, 10:50 am UTC: This article has been updated to add a Wu Blockchain report on Bithumb listings, claiming that multiple crypto projects paid intermediary fees to have their tokens listed.

South Korean prosecutors raided crypto exchange Bithumb following suspicions that its former CEO embezzled funds to purchase an apartment. 

On March 20, Seoul’s Southern District Prosecutors’ Office reportedly searched Bithumb’s offices in the country.

The investigation centered around allegations that the crypto exchange gave a 3 billion Korean won (over $2 million) apartment lease deposit to Kim Dae-sik, its former CEO and board member, who now works as an adviser to the firm. 

Prosecutors raised concerns over potential financial misconduct within the company, suspecting that Kim used some of the funds to purchase a personal apartment.

Local media outlet YTN reported that the country’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) had previously investigated the suspicions and handed their findings to the prosecutor’s office. 

In an interview with The Chosun Daily, a Bithumb representative said some of the allegations are true.

The exchange said the executive took a loan from a lender immediately after the FSS investigation. After this, Bithumb said Kim repaid the funds spent on the apartment purchase in full. 

Apart from the apartment, rumors that projects paid intermediary fees to get listed in Bithumb also circulated online. Citing anonymous sources, Wu Blockchain reported on March 20 that two projects claimed to have paid $2 million and $10 million, respectively, to get listed on Bithumb and Upbit. 

The report claimed that the “intermediaries” were related to Upbit’s shareholders and market makers. Wu Blockchain also said that some intermediary fees ranged from 3% to 5% of entire token supplies. 

Upbit responded to Wu Blockchain’s claims, asking her to “clearly disclose the list of digital asset projects that have paid the brokerage fees mentioned in X and provide specific evidence and data to ensure that our fact-finding and investigation proceed smoothly.”

Additionally, the exchange demanded additional information on the accusation of conducting illegal brokerage activities through intermediaries.

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The investigation comes as the crypto exchange attempts another push to go public. On March 18, the Business Post reported that Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won is expediting the process of the company’s long-awaited initial public offering (IPO). 

The report said the company has reorganized to eliminate judicial risks on major shareholders.

In 2021, Bithumb’s former board of directors chairman, Lee Jeong-hoon, was indicted on alleged fraud charges. As South Korea’s Supreme Court acquitted the Bithumb executive, the exchange is expected to speed up its IPO in 2025. 

Bithumb’s IPO plans date back to 2020 when local media reported that the exchange platform had been preparing for a stock market launch.

However, the company faced obstacles that prevented it from successfully conducting an IPO. In 2023, the company chose an underwriter for its IPO plans, reigniting the chatter it’s working on conducting an IPO. 

In 2024, the rumors were confirmed as Bithumb Korea set up a non-exchange business to accelerate its debut on the stock market. However, the news was paired with a 57% loss in annual revenue for the exchange operator in the fiscal year 2023. 

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