Coinone’s chief government is dealing with an official reprimand after South Korean regulators moved in opposition to the crypto alternate for a string of compliance failures, together with tens of 1000’s of unverified consumer accounts and repeated dealings with unlicensed overseas platforms.
Regulator Cites Tens Of 1000’s Of Violations
South Korea’s Monetary Intelligence Unit, working underneath the Monetary Providers Fee, discovered that Coinone did not confirm the identities of customers in roughly 70,000 instances.
The alternate was additionally accused of finishing buyer verification data even when key data was lacking — and of permitting transactions to proceed for patrons whose id checks had by no means been completed.
Based on a number of South Korean media reviews, the FIU flagged greater than 10,000 transactions carried out with 16 overseas exchanges that had no registration with South Korean regulators. Regulators had warned Coinone about these dealings earlier than. The alternate saved going anyway.
South Korea’s FIU fined Coinone $4M and hit the alternate with a three-month partial suspension over AML violations.
New clients are blocked from crypto deposits and withdrawals beginning April 29.
— Token Metrics (@tokenmetricsinc) April 13, 2026
The FIU fined Coinone 5.2 billion received, equal to about $3.5 million. A 3-month partial enterprise suspension was additionally imposed, blocking new clients from depositing or withdrawing funds throughout the ban.
Chief government officer Cha Myung-hoon acquired a proper reprimand, although reviews notice it carries no prison weight — the motion is administrative in nature. Coinone has 10 days to problem the penalties earlier than they’re finalized.
Second Main Alternate Hit In A Month
This isn’t the primary time South Korean authorities have gone after a serious alternate in latest weeks. In March, Bithumb — the nation’s second-largest crypto platform by buying and selling quantity — was fined $24 million and handed a six-month partial suspension over comparable anti-money laundering failures.
That motion got here after Bithumb made headlines for a expensive clerical error: the alternate by chance despatched clients 620,000 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $42 billion on the time, as an alternative of 620,000 Korean received.
The blunder prompted the Financial institution of Korea to name on lawmakers to impose tighter controls on exchanges, together with buying and selling curbs that might kick in throughout uncommon market exercise or sharp worth swings.
The alternate, ranked third in South Korea by measurement, now joins Bithumb as targets of what seems to be a widening regulatory push in opposition to crypto platforms within the nation.
Officers mentioned Monday that lawmakers ought to contemplate buying and selling halt mechanisms tied to irregular exercise — a proposal that alerts authorities are structural fixes, not simply fines.
How Coinone responds to the FIU’s motion inside its 10-day window will probably form how the ultimate penalties are written.
Featured picture from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Editorial Course of for bitcoinist is centered on delivering completely researched, correct, and unbiased content material. We uphold strict sourcing requirements, and every web page undergoes diligent evaluation by our crew of prime know-how consultants and seasoned editors. This course of ensures the integrity, relevance, and worth of our content material for our readers.
