South Korean Crypto Exchange Bithumb Re-opens Deposits & Withdrawals
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb will resume deposit and withdrawal services on Saturday at 11 am KST. The exchange had suspended all deposits and withdrawal services on its platform following the June hack on a hot wallet, which led to the loss of tokens valued at over $30 million.
Hacked Crypto Exchange Bithumb Unfreezes Withdrawals
The exchange made the announcement earlier today via a tweet on its official Twitter handle.
However, only 10 cryptocurrencies have been approved for the first round of service resumptions, namely Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Qtum (QTUM), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Mithrill (MITH). Deposit and withdrawal services on 25 other cryptocurrencies remain suspended.
An excerpt from a post on Bithumb’s website about the continued suspension reads:
“Some cryptocurrencies with a significant price difference of about 10% between Bithumb market and standard market will be opted out in this round in view of protecting our customer’s asset. Since when the services return to normal, rapid change in market prices are expected. Therefore, resuming normal services for such cryptocurrencies will be put on hold for the time being.”
It was also announced that all deposit addresses had been changed and customers are to request for new ones. All uncredited deposits made while services were on hold will also be returned.
Suspension of Bank-Linked Virtual Account Issuance
The exchange operator, which was among South Korea’s largest exchanges by volume before the hack, is one of 12 exchange firms to pass a series of inspections carried out by the Korean Blockchain Association back in July. Other crypto exchanges that passed the tests include Korbit, Huobi Korea, OKEx and Upbit.
Bithumb’s market absence had a negative effect on the Korean crypto market, with many investors taking a negative cue from the hack and the subsequent KBA security audits. After passing the assessment and announcing its gradual return to regular operations, many hope that this will have a positive knock-on effect on crypto trading in South Korea.
In spite of this, the exchange firm is unable to renew and establish contracts with banks and as such, it has had to suspend the issuance of new bank-linked virtual accounts.
CCN.com earlier reported that, in January, regulators banned cryptocurrency trading through anonymous virtual bank accounts. To facilitate the linking of traders exchange wallets to their bank accounts, exchange firms are to establish contracts with local bank and renews such contracts every six months.
It was reported on Aug. 1 that Nonghyup Bank refused to renew a contract with Bithumb due to concerns of security following the June security breach.
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