Dunamu, operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, said Thursday that it has resolved all issues raised by financial regulators, defending its compliance record amid an ongoing legal dispute with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit.
The statement came after the KoFIU, an affiliate of the Financial Services Commission, imposed a 35.2 billion won ($24.3 million) fine on Dunamu for alleged violations that day, including failures to meet customer due diligence requirements.
According to the KoFIU, Dunamu failed to properly conduct customer verifications, including cases involving blurred or unverifiable identification documents and incorrect personal information. The agency also found several instances where Dunamu did not restrict transactions despite incomplete verification procedures.
The KoFIU plans to finalize the penalty after issuing an advance notice and allowing more than 10 days for Dunamu to submit its opinion.
In February, the government agency ordered a three-month partial business suspension on Upbit and issued a reprimand to then-CEO Lee Sirgoo.
Dunamu rejected the regulator’s findings and filed a lawsuit, arguing it had complied with the so-called “travel rule,” which requires exchanges to share transaction details for transfers exceeding 1 million won, and that most of the cited cases involved smaller transactions below that threshold.
The company added that Upbit has followed the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance’s unified compliance framework and adopted Chainalysis tools to enhance transaction monitoring.
Since February, it has also applied the travel rule and whitelisting to all transactions regardless of size, while further strengthening its know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering systems.
jwc@heraldcorp.com
