South Korea’s bank renewals and the reality of delisting

Bank partnership extensions

I see Upbit and K Bank extend their partnership through October 5, 2027. K Bank confirmed this renewal after the Financial Intelligence Unit accepted Dunamu’s report as a virtual asset service provider. This extension follows speculation about Hana Bank investing 1 trillion won to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu. K Bank has provided real-name verified accounts for Upbit users since 2020. Bithumb and KB Kookmin Bank continue discussions for a one-year renewal after their August 2026 contract expiration. Bithumb and KB Kookmin Bank had originally maintained real-name account contracts on a one-year basis before the large-scale Bitcoin erroneous payout incident and police investigation into alleged job solicitation forced a six-month term in February. KB Kookmin Bank conducted an on-site inspection of Bithumb in June to assess risk. The two companies move toward restoring the one-year term because risk concerns eased after the inspection. Bithumb officials say discussions between the two companies are in a positive atmosphere. Coinone and KakaoBank are also reviewing whether to renew their contract this month.

Enforcement and market monitoring

The Financial Services Commission referred 30 suspected market manipulation cases to prosecutors under the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users. This law took effect on July 1, 2024. Authorities also consider preemptive account freezing for suspected manipulators without a standard warrant. In October, South Korean police signed an agreement with Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Corbit, and Gopax to cooperate in criminal investigations. Bithumb currently faces an investigation for tax evasion and price manipulation. I find the Ministry of Justice plan to use third-party software to monitor transaction history and check the source of funds quite aggressive. The Ministry of Justice will initially use third-party software to extract information on transactions and check the source of funds. The Ministry of Justice intends to develop its own system in the second half of the year. Lawmakers are also considering 17 separate proposals to form the Digital Asset Basic Act. I note the regulatory pressure on exchanges to maintain cold storage for substantial portions of customer assets. You should know that exchanges must report delisting decisions to the FSC within 24 hours. Does the planned development of a dedicated system improve the accuracy of these investigations?

The reality of token delisting

Exchanges like Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone coordinate token removals based on strict internal guidelines. I watched the coordinated delisting of Drift (DRIFT) on June 1, 2025, which removed the token from all trading pairs. The exchanges cited the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, low trading volume, and security concerns as reasons for this move. DRIFT accounted for 15% of its global trading volume on South Korean exchanges before this event. You should not assume a listing on a major exchange guarantees permanence. I note the significant price volatility after previous coordinated delistings in 2024. The FSC requires exchanges to assess issuer transparency, smart contract security, trading volume, and anti-money laundering compliance. Exchanges also look for poor development progress, unstable tokenomics, or regulatory uncertainty. I see that tokens like WAVES and OMG lost over 50% of their value within a week of delisting. Traders should note that delisting from major exchanges can reduce a token’s price by 30% to 60% within days.