Seoul Prosecutor’s Office issues arrest warrant for Bithumb crypto exchange owner

Kang Jong-hyeon was accused of manipulating the stock prices of several companies affiliated with the platform

25.01.2023 - 14:40

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What’s new? On January 25, the Financial Investigation Division of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for the actual owner of South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange, Bithumb, Kang Jong-hyeon. He was charged with embezzlement and misappropriation of funds, as well as fraud under the Capital Markets Act. The local news agency Yonhap reports about this.

Yonhap’s material

What else does the publication report? Hyun is the older brother of Kang Ji-yeon, the CEO of Inbiogen and Bucket Studio, subsidiaries of Bithumb. He is accused of manipulating the share prices of Inbiogen and Bucket Studio by issuing convertible bonds.

What is known about Bithumb? The platform was founded in 2013 and hosts 190 coins and 290 trading pairs. The daily trading volume as of January 25 is $418,77 million, according to aggregator CoinGecko.

In October 2022, Bithumb ex-chairman Lee Jung-hoon was accused of $70 million in fraud. He allegedly received these funds fraudulently from BK Group chairman, Kim Byung Gun, in October 2018 during negotiations to buy the exchange.

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