South Korean regulator reportedly closed 11 crypto exchanges

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South Korea’s main financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, is reportedly planning to shut down a dozen local cryptocurrency exchanges amid allegations of fraud.

The FSC will suspend the operations of at least 11 medium-sized crypto exchanges in South Korea due to suspected illegal activity and fraudulent collective accounts, local news agency The Korea Herald reported on Sunday. The post cited anonymous industry sources as saying the names of the exchanges had not yet been released.

The sources argued that the mentioned crypto exchanges will not be able to obtain operating approval from the FSC. The report also notes that the authority plans to implement stricter regulations for small crypto exchanges in South Korea.

The news of the alleged shutdowns comes amid several small South Korean crypto exchanges that recently suspended operations. Local crypto exchange Bitsonic announced on its official Telegram channel on Friday that it would temporarily halt operations, citing internal and external issues.

Another local crypto trading platform, CPDAX, has also said it will shut down operations entirely as of September 1. Previously, the Darlbit exchange also reportedly ended services after suspending deposit and withdrawal services last month.

FSC did not immediately respond to Cointelegraphs request for comment.

Related: South Korea To Take Action Against Unregistered Crypto Exchanges

South Korea’s crypto exchanges have recently come under stricter regulatory scrutiny as authorities have asked local digital asset service providers to register their businesses until September and create trading accounts. and real-name reports. In particular, small and medium-sized crypto exchanges would have struggled to obtain licenses from the relevant authorities, unlike major crypto exchanges such as Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit.

However, the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have also recently faced regulatory issues. According to Yonhap News, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday reopened an investigation into a suspected fraud case involving the former chairman of Bithumb, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange.

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