The biggest digital currency exchange in South Korea – Bithumb together with Upbit, has banned the trading of digital currency in North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, and seven other nations which are considered as high-risk jurisdiction by the NCCT Initiative.
Starting on Monday, May 28 2018, the Bithumb team said that to prevent its platform and infrastructure for being used for money laundering and other financial criminal activities, it has decided to stop trading in the eleven nations under the watch of NCCT Initiative.
The number one digital currency exchange in South Korea will no longer accept new users from the listed countries, and they will disable the accounts of the already existing users on the 21st of June.
Pressure from Government
Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) are countries the FATF have seen as regions with inadequate regulations and policies to restrict money laundering and the use of several forms of money to finance illegal operations.
By banning trading in the nations under the observation and investigation of both the FATF and NCCT Initiative, the exchange platform can eliminate potential conflicts with international regulators and local financial authorities in regards to the utilization of digital currency in money laundering.
Influence from the Government of Japan
Earlier this month, the most influential and oldest newspaper in Japan – Mainichi Shimbun, reported that hundreds of millions of dollars have been laundered via three anonymous digital currencies Monero, Dash, and Zcash by the Yakuza. Yakuza is one of the organized, powerful crime syndicates in the world with over 100 thousand members, it co-exists with the police and government of the country as a result of its complicated history.
The report of the newspaper company prompted the Japanese government to stop the use of anonymous digital currencies such as Zcash, Dash, and Monero, by asking local digital currency exchanges to remove those digital currencies from their listing.
Princess Ogono is a writer, lawyer and fitness enthusiast. She believes cryptocurrencies are the future. When she's not writing, she spends time with her adorable cat, Ginger and works out often.
