South Korean crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb remove some altcoins from their platforms

The move of crypto exchanges could be part of their preparations for their registration applications to be approved by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

South Korean crypto exchanges Bithumb and Upbit have removed some altcoins from their platforms. The decision of both exchanges is seen as part of their preparations for their registration applications to be approved by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Upbit announced on June 11 that it would remove five coins from its platform. The crypto exchange has decided to write off Maro, Paycoin, Solve.Care, Quiztok and Observer coins.

The crypto exchange has also published a “watch list” of 25 tokens. On June 18, Upbit already delisted 24 of the platform’s tokens, according to Counter.

Meanwhile, Bithumb plans to stop trading four tokens from his platform. The crypto exchange said four altcoins would no longer be supported by July 5.

Upbit and Bithumb are among the top four crypto exchanges in South Korea. Along with Coinone and Korbit, the four platforms are collectively referred to as the “Big 4”.

Based on delisted coins, crypto exchanges appear to target dark coins or privacy coins such as Monero (XMR) as well as tokens issued directly by the exchanges. Some delisted cryptos also belong to protocols that are no longer developed or to tokens listed on less than five exchanges.

Crypto exchanges operating in South Korea must register with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) by September 24, 2021. The FIU may reject requests from exchanges deemed too risky for money laundering and fraud.

At a meeting held on June 4, the FIU revealed a set of “recommended guidelines” to increase the chances of stock exchanges getting the registration application approved. The guidelines included submitting their protocols in assessment and registration tokens, which likely explains the write-offs.

Besides the two members of the “Big 4”, smaller exchanges have also initiated their own delisting. For example, Huobi Korea has stopped trading in the Huobi token while Coinbit has suspended trading in 8 coins.

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