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| Bithumb logo, a cryptocurrency trading site. 2019.12.30/News1 © News1 Reporter Shin Woong-soo |
Bithumb, a domestic cryptocurrency trading site, announced on the 9th that it has blocked transactions with residents of countries that have not implemented the anti-money laundering (AML) designated by the International Anti-Money Laundering Organization (FATF).
Bithumb reflected this in its own’Money Laundering Prevention Act’ as four new countries were added to countries that did not comply with the international anti-money laundering standards at the FATF general meeting in February. According to the regulations, users in countries that have not implemented money laundering prevention are not allowed to sign up for new members, and the account of existing members has also been discontinued.
There are a total of 21 countries where transactions are restricted. Designated countries are Iran, North Korea, and 19 countries that are classified as’high risk countries requiring action’ (Yemen, Syria, Pakistan, Botswana, Ghana, Cambodia, Panama, Zimbabwe, Albania, Myanmar, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Uganda, Cayman Islands, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal).
A Bithumb official said, “We will continue to supplement the relevant regulations and systems to create a transparent and sound cryptocurrency market and protect investors.”
Meanwhile, Bithumb is preparing and implementing its own anti-money laundering policy, and is actively working to prevent money laundering by reinforcing customer identification (KYC) procedures such as verifying the residence of all members.
Last year, Octa Solution and AML and Fault Detection (FDS) solution specialized for virtual asset providers were jointly developed, and a specialized solution from Chainnallysys, an American blockchain analysis company, and Dow Jones’ solution were also introduced.
The company also established its own anti-money laundering center for the first time in the industry. The Money Laundering Prevention Center is making every effort to prevent crime of virtual assets through monitoring such as KYC as well as suspicious transaction reporting (STR).