JAKARTA - The owner of the leading South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, was arrested on Thursday, February 2, on charges of tax evasion, illegal transaction fraud and breach of trust. The former head of the crypto exchange, Kang Jong-Hyun, was arrested along with two other executives involving his younger sister, Kang Ji-Yeon.

The arrest came after South Korean police asked the Bithumb owner for action and conducted a search at the Bithumb office in an investigation into coin price manipulation. The coins involved are not yet known.

South Korea's National Tax Service also opened a separate investigation into the possibility of tax evasion by Bithumb and its affiliates. However, this investigation separates from tax evasion investigations. Recent arrests relate to allegations that Kang and others manipulated the company's share price and stole Bithumb money.

Bithumb is one of the crypto exchanges that managed to survive the South Korean government's crackdown in 2021 which closed 70 domestic exchanges. Bad news continues to arrive for Bithumb, a well-known crypto exchange in South Korea.

In early January 2023, former chairman Lee Jung-Hoon was acquitted of charges of fraud of $100 million linked to crypto exchanges. Meanwhile, the largest crypto exchange shareholder, Park Mo, was found dead in December 2022 after being named a suspect in a case of stock manipulation and embezzlement.

In addition, South Korean regulators have tightened surveillance of crypto companies operating in the country in line with the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022. There have also been talks that FTX's derivative platform wants to acquire Bithumb, but the plan was canceled after the FTX platform itself collapsed due to reports of misuse of customer funds. Towards the end of 2022, the situation has become increasingly gloomy for Bithumb and the crypto industry in South Korea.


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