NH Nonghyup Bank issued real-name account confirmations to cryptocurrency exchanges Bithumb and Coinone, and Shinhan Bank to Korbit. As a result, Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit, which have previously submitted reports to the FIU, are expected to survive the Special Financial Transaction Information Act. In addition, GDAC and Gopax are also in talks with banks, so it is predicted that there is a possibility that one or two additional exchanges in addition to the four existing exchanges will survive.
In the meantime, Nonghyup Bank has requested Bithumb and Coinone to establish “travel rules” to prevent money laundering. This refers to a system in which the exchange collects sender/receiver information when coins are moved between exchanges. Nonghyup Bank requested to temporarily suspend the movement of coins between exchanges if it is difficult to build within a short period of time. As a result, both sides agreed to a compromise. A Bithumb official said, “After Bithumb completed the FIU report, we gathered opinions in a way that customers can use the existing service as it is if they go through KYC and wallet address verification procedures.” At the same time, exchanges are expected to focus their efforts on building travel rules. Currently, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit, excluding Upbit, are promoting the establishment of an information sharing system and system through a travel rule joint venture.
Small and medium-sized exchanges, except for the Big 4, are in talks with multiple banks to issue real-name authentication accounts, and there is a forecast that the results will be released within the next week at the latest. Gopax (based on Coin Market Cap) and Hanbitco, which rank 7th in terms of daily transaction volume in KRW, are also in negotiations with banks. But the rest of the exchanges have no way. Accordingly, after the Special Financial Transaction Information Act goes into effect on the 24th, it is expected that according to the relevant law, the KRW transaction brokerage business will be closed and only the coin market to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with coins such as Bitcoin will be operated.
In fact, small and medium-sized exchanges are taking measures one after another, such as closing the KRW market and suspending deposits and withdrawals. Coinbit, which ranks 5th in daily transaction volume, also stopped depositing KRW as of the 1st of this month.
