South Korea’s privacy regulator fined crypto exchange Bithumb 210 million won (approximately US$135,700) on June 25, 2026, after finding that the platform shared user data with overseas exchanges without proper consent.
South Korea’s privacy regulator fined crypto exchange Bithumb 210 million won (approximately US$135,700) on June 25, 2026, after finding that the platform shared user data with overseas exchanges without proper consent.
The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) announced the penalty alongside a corrective order requiring Bithumb to fix its overseas data-transfer practices. The regulator said the violations occurred between September and November 2025, when Bithumb shared its USDT market order book with a foreign exchange. For related coverage, see Solana Spot ETFs See $3.94 Million in Net Outflows on June 25.
What South Korea’s Penalty Against Bithumb Covers
The PIPC’s announcement confirmed that Bithumb violated the country’s overseas personal-data transfer rules during a three-month window in late 2025. The commission approved the fine and corrective order at its plenary session. For related coverage, see Polymarket Users Lose Nearly $3M in Suspected Phishing Attack.
Yonhap reported the penalty was equivalent to roughly US$135,700, confirming the measure had been approved the prior day.
How Bithumb Shared User Data Overseas
The PIPC found that Bithumb told users their information would be transferred to Stellar exchange. Instead, member numbers and order information were actually sent to bingx.com, a different platform entirely.
The regulator also determined that Bithumb shared names and wallet addresses with 13 overseas exchanges during asset transfers without fully satisfying the legal consent requirements for cross-border data transfers. In one case, a user’s date of birth was also sent to an overseas exchange for sender-receiver matching purposes.
These operational specifics go beyond a routine privacy fine. The mismatch between the disclosed recipient (Stellar exchange) and the actual recipient (BingX) suggests a gap between what users agreed to and what Bithumb practiced, a distinction South Korean regulators are now enforcing with financial penalties.
Why the Case Matters in South Korea’s Broader Exchange Crackdown
The privacy sanction is not Bithumb’s only regulatory problem in 2026. On March 16, South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit moved to fine the exchange approximately 37 billion won (US$24.8 million) and seek a six-month partial business suspension. That earlier action cited 6.59 million customer-verification lapses and roughly 45,000 transactions with 18 unregistered overseas exchanges, a case previously covered in reporting on South Korea’s Bithumb investigation.
The PIPC paired the June 25 sanction with a new blockchain-service personal-information guideline, signaling that South Korean regulators pursuing unified crypto rules are extending their reach into how exchanges handle user data across borders.
Repeated compliance failures from one of the country’s largest exchanges raise the pressure on centralized platforms to demonstrate they can meet both anti-money-laundering and privacy standards simultaneously. Bithumb’s listing processes have also faced scrutiny, with recent token listing reviews highlighting the tighter regulatory environment.
Bitcoin traded at $59,853 at press time, down 2.65% over 24 hours, amid broader market sentiment registering Extreme Fear at 13 on the Fear and Greed Index.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.