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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

20 indicted for moving $3.2 bil. overseas for cryptocurrency 'kimchi premiums'

An electronic signboard at the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb in Seoul shows prices of bitcoin and other digital currencies, Jan. 18. YonhapProsecutors have indicted 20 people on charges of illegally remitting about 4 trillion won ($3.2 billion) worth of funds overseas to buy cryptocurrencies abroad and sell them back in Korea at a premium, officials said Wednesday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, in collaboration with the Seoul branch of the Korea Customs Service, indicted 11 of them with detention and the nine others without detention, the officials said.They allegedly raised 4.3 trillion won via 256 bank accounts in Korea between January 2021 and August last year, and illegally sent the money to Hong Kong and other overseas countries, disguised as foreign trade payments. The money was then used to buy cryptocurrency assets outside of Korea, and the cryptocurrencies thus purchased were remitted to crypto exchanges back home and sold at so-called kimchi premiums, with the proceeds divided among those indicted, as well as the fund providers.Kimchi premiums refer to cr

Jan 18, 2023
20 indicted for moving $3.2 bil. overseas for cryptocurrency 'kimchi premiums'

Number of fake banknotes hits record low in 2022 on increased non-cash transactions

A clerk checks 50,000 won ($35.25) banknotes at the headquarters of Hana Bank in Seoul on Nov. 1, 2022. YonhapThe number of fabricated Korean banknotes hit a record low in 2022 on increased non-cash transactions amid the pandemic, central bank data showed Monday.The number of counterfeit banknotes found in Korea last year came to 150, down from the previous record low of 176 a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The 2022 figure was the lowest ever since related data started to be compiled in 1998.The decline is attributed mostly to increased non-cash transactions, such as online and credit card settlements, a trend that has been expanded in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.Of the fake bills, 5,000 won ($4.03) bills accounted for 50 percent of the total with 75, while 10,000 won counterfeit bills came to 43, making up 28.7 percent. The highest-denomination bills also made up 15.3 percent of the total, with 23 50,000 won notes found last year.The face value of the fake bills found last year amounted to 1.96 million won, compared with 1.99 million won a

Jan 16, 2023
Number of fake banknotes hits record low in 2022 on increased non-cash transactions

Bitcoin climbs above $20,000 first time in over two months

Representations of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum and DogeCoin are placed on PC motherboard in this illustration taken, June 29, 2021. Reuters-YonhapBitcoin rose on Saturday above $20,000 for first time in over two months.Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, rose 4.6% to $20,853 at 01:01 GMT on Saturday, adding $922 to its previous close.The cryptocurrency is up 26.4 percent from the year's low of $16,496 on Jan. 1.Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 5.91 percent to $1,536.9 on Saturday, adding $85.90 to its previous close. (Reuters)

Jan 15, 2023
Bitcoin climbs above $20,000 first time in over two months

Top court confirms damages payment to investors over Bithumb service outage

This photo shows the logo of Bithumb in Seoul. YonhapThe Supreme Court has finalized a ruling that ordered damages payment totaling 251.4 million won ($202,400) to investors over a service outage at the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, officials said Friday.Transaction service at Bithumb was put on hold for 1 1/2 hours on Nov. 12, 2017, after the average amount of orders per hour instantly doubled to throttle transaction flows.More than a hundred investors filed a damages suit against the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange, saying they suffered financial losses due to the service outage during which cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic logged steep price falls.A district had ruled against the investors, but the appellate court later overturned the ruling, ordering the Bithumb operator to pay damages ranging from 8,000 won to 8 million won to each of the 132 investors. The ruling was finalized by the Supreme Court on Thursday.The appellate court ruled at that time, "The burden or the cost of technological failures should be shouldered by the s

Jan 13, 2023
Top court confirms damages payment to investors over Bithumb service outage

Bitcoin on technical rally as fears subside over inflation, rate hikes

A seven-day price chart of Bitcoin captured from CoinMarketCap, Tuesday. Courtesy of CoinMarketCapBy Lee Min-hyungBitcoin is on a technical rally, surpassing the $17,000 mark for the first time in about a month on diminishing inflation concerns. According to data from market tracker CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was traded at $17,217 as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization reached around $16,400 at the end of 2022, but got back on track for a gradual rebound as of the beginning of this year.The price movement of Ethereum also showed a similar pattern during the same period. Ethereum was traded at around $1,190 on Dec. 31 last year, but recovered to more than $1,320 as of Tuesday afternoon.This raised hopes for the crypto market to bounce back this year after the industry suffered a year-long downfall in the aftermath of steep rate hikes here and abroad. A growing sense of expectation that inflation has peaked also increases the likelihood for major cryptocurrencies to extend recovery momentum.Market analysts also welcomed the sign of a rebound in

Jan 10, 2023By Lee Min-hyung
Bitcoin on technical rally as fears subside over inflation, rate hikes

Bithumb's de facto owner acquitted of fraud

This photo shows the de facto owner of the operator of Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, surnamed Lee, Jan. 3. YonhapThe de facto owner of the operator of Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb was acquitted Tuesday on charges of defrauding a businessman.The Seoul Central District Court delivered a not guilty verdict for the owner, only identified by his surname Lee, saying the prosecution's evidence does not show that he had purposely defrauded the victim.Lee was indicted on charges of stealing around 112 billion won ($88.1 million) after offering the takeover of Bithumb to the chairman of BK Group, only identified by his surname Kim, prosecutors said.In the process, Lee allegedly promised Kim that the unlisted coin called BXA would get issued and listed, they said. Kim then used part of the down payment with the payment earned from pre-selling BXA.However, BXA coins were not listed and the takeover of Bithumb Korea eventually fell through as well.The court said Tuesday that it cannot accept that Lee had promised the listing of the coins based on a contract b

Jan 3, 2023
Bithumb's de facto owner acquitted of fraud

Crypto rebound unlikely in early 2023: analysts

gettyimagesbank By Lee Min-hyungThe cryptocurrency market is unlikely to achieve a major rebound at least until early 2023, as global monetary authorities will maintain a tight monetary stance for months to come, analysts said. The forecast came amid a prolonged liquidity crisis, which the industry has been facing for the past year, after the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central monetary authorities here and abroad carried out aggressive rate hikes.Prices of major cryptocurrencies are also showing scant signs of a recovery and are hovering around the lowest level since the end of 2020. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was traded at $16,600 as of 1 p.m., Friday. The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been on a sharp decline from the second quarter of 2022 in the wake of the aggressive rate hikes.Ethereum prices also displayed a similar curve during the same period. The value of the world's second-largest cryp

Dec 31, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Crypto rebound unlikely in early 2023: analysts

Deceased Nexon founder's cryptocurrency account hacked

The late Nexon CEO Kim Jung-ju / Korea Time fileThe cryptocurrency account of Kim Jung-ju, the deceased founder of gaming giant Nexon, was hacked, resulting in the loss of more than 8.5 billion won ($6.7 million), court documents showed Thursday.The Seoul Eastern District Court convicted a 39-year-old man, whose identity has been withheld, for illegally copying USIM cards of 15 victims, including Kim's, between May and June of this year, according to the documents. Kim died in the United States in late February.The man then hacked into Kim's account and stole cryptocurrency a total of 27 times amounting to 8.51 billion won, the documents showed.The court sentenced the man to six years in prison and a fine of 600 million won. The court also ordered the man to return the 8.51 billion won. (Yonhap)

Dec 29, 2022
Deceased Nexon founder's cryptocurrency account hacked

Dunamu's Momentica offers new digital collectibles for Le Sserafim fans

A promotional poster for Le Sserafim Digital Souvenirs / Courtesy of LevvelsBy Yoon Ja-youngFans of Le Sserafim can exchange their “Digital Souvenirs” of the K-pop girl group for new collectible digital cards known as “Take,” according to Levvels, Thursday. The joint venture established by Dunamu, a leading blockchain and fintech company, and HYBE, an entertainment company housing multinational music labels, announced that the exchange can be done via its digital collectible platform Momentica, ahead of the first drop of Le Sserafim's own digital Take collectibles. The Digital Souvenirs were released as part of a special event in celebration of Le Sserafim's debut in early April, allowing new fans to create souvenir images online featuring the group's members. These creations can now be exchanged via Momentica for Take. Fans who participated in creating Digital Souvenirs in April's event can exchange them for the digital cards by inputting the promotion code provided at the Digital Souvenir registration website, le-sserafim.com. Levvels launched Momentica as i

Dec 22, 2022
Dunamu's Momentica offers new digital collectibles for Le Sserafim fans

Wemix debacle raises calls for swift institutionalization of crypto market

Wemade CEO Chang Hyun-guk sheds tears, crying foul over a decision by crypto exchanges to delist its Wemix coin, during an online press conference on Nov. 25. Screen capture from YouTubePolitical deadlock feared to delay discussions on crypto institutionalizationBy Lee Min-hyungThe abrupt delisting of the once-popular Wemix coin has rekindled calls for authorities to take swift action to institutionalize Korea's crypto market.Wemix was issued by Korea's famous game publisher, Wemade, and its valuation soared to a record high of more than 25,000 won ($19) on Nov. 24, 2021. The coin then fell to around 3,000 won from July this year, following in the footsteps of other major cryptocurrencies. Wemix did not show any wide price fluctuations until mid-November when Korea's four major crypto exchanges made a joint decision to delist the controversial coin, citing its low credibility because the amount of Wemix in circulation was bigger than what the firm notified earlier.Wemade has since taken legal action, but a Seoul court recently decided to reject the firm's appeal. Following the decisi

Dec 18, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Wemix debacle raises calls for swift institutionalization of crypto market
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