Bitget Suspended By Singapore Authorities Due To Violation Of Copyright Of Korean Boyband, BTS

Bitget uses BTS photos to promote ARMY Coin. (photo: twitter)

JAKARTA - Singapore-based digital asset platform Bitget has reportedly been suspended by the Monetary Authority of Singapore following a dispute with the agency representing popular K-pop boy band BTS.

As reported by the Financial Times on Sunday, December 5, Bitget lost its Singapore license following a controversial list of new K-pop-related cryptocurrencies called Army Coin (ARMY). However, crypto exchanges still claim to have licenses in other jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.

As reported by Cointelegraph, trouble arose on October 25 when Bitget shared a tweet promoting ARMY Coin, named after the followers of the South Korean boy band, known as BTS ARMY — short for “Adorable Representative MC for Youth”.

It allegedly used misleading information such as "This coin exists for the benefit of #BTS" and "ARMY coins aim to keep BTS members for life."

🚨Attention to all #ARMYs out there

New listed $ARMY @Armycoin4BTS in the #InnovationZone

📅Trading: 08:00, October 27 (UTC)

Read the details below:

🔗https://t.co/mCJWnzPb7q pic.twitter.com/XxMGKg6Zcs

— Bitget (@bitgetglobal) October 25, 2021

The exchange reportedly violated the boy band's portrait rights by displaying the new cryptocurrency on its website using the ticker "ARMY" and the name and image of BTS without permission.

After the agency, Hybe, received information that the cryptocurrency had been listed on a Singapore-based exchange, it announced:

“We are investigating legal violations in this case, including cryptocurrency infringement of our artist's portrait rights without permission or discussion with the agency. We will take legal action against all violations and violations.”

He added that the coin had "no affiliation" with BTS and urged those who lost money to contact the police.

Bitget responded to the statement, according to reports, by clarifying that as a trading platform, it does not create the coin itself and is not responsible for it. However, ARMY tokens were removed from the exchange on Friday.

The Financial Times also reports that the coin is available for trading in other jurisdictions on Bitget, including South Korea.

Founded in Singapore in 2018, Bitget claims to have over 1.5 million registered users worldwide, and following the latest Series B funding round, Bitget is worth $1 billion.

Bitget has been in the industry spotlight after securing a sponsorship deal with Italian football giant Juventus in September and becoming an official partner of the PGL Major Stockholm 2021 in October.

In June, Bitget also signed a partnership with Stablecoin issuer Circle to become one of the first exchanges to list the USD Coin (USDC) as collateral for trading crypto derivatives.