Bithumb, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, announced on Friday that it will no longer allow users without real-name verification to make withdrawals in fiat.
According to the announcement, traders who have not been verified in line the country’s crypto regulation will be unable to cash out in Korean won from October 1. For corporate accounts, it will take effect on October 15.
“Cryptocurrency transactions and withdrawals can be used normally,” the exchange explained.
This will mark the exchanges switch of the former regulatory regime Fto the latest regulation where customers’ accounts are linked with accounts in a South Korean bank bearing the real names of the customers.
The government policy is aimed at preventing money laundering using cryptocurrency and major cryptocurrency exchanges in the country are adopting it.
Coinone, another notable exchange in Korea made a similar announcement on Friday. In its release, the exchange said it will limit fiat withdrawals for its customers who are not verified. Its statement read:
“In order to comply with the government policy related to virtual currency transactions, we will limit the withdrawal of persons who have not completed the real name verification.”
The exchange further explained that it was requested by its partner bank, Nonghyup Bank, to limit the deposit and withdrawal of Korean Won for the affected users.
Korean regulations require exchanges to partner with a Korean bank. Bithumb and Coinone use the same partner bank. Bithumb renewed its partnership in August, after some uncertainty which forced it to stop accepting new registrations. The impasse was resolved after Bithumb promised to implement measures to protect investor’s security.
Both exchanges confirmed that corporations, minors, and foreigners are not eligible for real-name conversion.
Other major exchanges who use a different partner bank have not made similar announcements.
Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.
