Seoul Court Suspends Bithumb Penalty

Court Grants Stay in Bithumb Case

The Seoul Administrative Court in South Korea has suspended the six-month partial business suspension penalty on crypto exchange Bithumb until a final decision is issued. Local media sources reported that the panel, led by Gong Hyeon-jin, Head of the 2nd Administrative Division of the court, accepted the exchange’s stay request on Thursday. The ban imposed by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), affiliated with the Financial Services Commission, would have halted new customers’ external crypto deposits and withdrawals. The court allowed the exchange to continue its normal operations during the administrative lawsuit process. This move temporarily rescued Bithumb from regulatory pressure.

FIU Fine and Bithumb’s Legal Battle

The FIU had imposed a 36.8 billion won (25 million dollars) fine on the exchange at the beginning of March for violating AML obligations; the company appeared to have failed to verify the identities of 6.65 million users. The penalty was the heaviest sanction ever given to KRW-based crypto exchanges and was set to take effect on March 27. Bithumb filed an administrative lawsuit on March 23 and requested a stay, halting implementation; the FIU argued that revenue loss would be limited. While CEO Lee Jae-won faces a disciplinary investigation, the exchange missed the early payment discount by refusing to pay the fine. Recently postponing its IPO plans to 2028, Bithumb is also lagging behind competitors like Upbit in similar public offering preparations; in an early-year “fat finger” error, a theoretical 620,000 BTC was mistakenly distributed, and the exchange recovered most of the funds.

BTC Technical Analysis: Resilience Despite Regulations

The decision shows that legal challenges against regulators’ strict stance in South Korea’s crypto sector can be effective. While exchanges strengthen internal controls, the wave of audits is delaying IPOs. This development indicates that AML compliance has now become a vital competitive factor. BTC price is currently at $78,459.09, 24h change +2.67%. RSI 61.75 neutral, trend sideways but Supertrend bearish. EMA 20: $75,821. Supports: S1 $71,926 (strong), S2 $75,716. Resistances: R1 $79,445 (very strong, +1.19%), R2 $84,515. Check detailed BTC futures. Regulation news kept market volatility limited; BTC detailed analysis recommended.