#Upbit is being investigated for KYC violations.#

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in South Korea will hold a sanction deliberation committee on January 21st regarding Upbit. The deliberation primarily focuses on the violation of customer identity verification (KYC) obligations discovered during an on-site inspection of Upbit in August last year. Reports indicate that the FIU inspection uncovered approximately 500,000 to 600,000 suspected KYC violations, including instances where accounts were opened despite blurry or unclear identity information submitted by customers. The deliberation will determine the disciplinary actions against Upbit employees and the amount of fines to be imposed, with particular emphasis on the potential connection between the KYC violations and money laundering activities. The outcome of the deliberation could impact Upbit's Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) re-registration process, which was initially scheduled for completion in October last year but has been delayed due to this issue. Industry experts anticipate that the VASP re-registration process for virtual asset service providers will gradually progress following the conclusion of this sanction deliberation.