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Virtual currency exchanges that trade bitcoin, etc. must report their business to the financial authorities by the 24th. Information security management system and ISMS certification are mandatory, but there are more than 20 places that have not even applied for it at all. The financial authorities prepared 'Guidelines for Closing of Business' to protect users and held a briefing session, but the damage is already realizing.
Reporter Hoon-Kyung Jang on the sidewalk.
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18 days before the deadline for reporting virtual currency exchanges, the financial authorities have effectively sent out 'Guidelines for Closing of Business' to exchanges.
You must obtain ISMS certification for the information security management system and report it to the authorities by the 24th, but if you do not do this, you will have to close the business.
Exchanges that are going out of business notify users of the closing of business by the 17th at least a week in advance and have them close immediately on the 24th.
In addition, exchanges that have not signed a real-name account linkage contract with a bank can only trade coins and cannot deposit and withdraw cash.
Even if the exchange is closed, the authorities said to ensure that users can withdraw money for 30 days after closing, but there are several places where the website has already been closed or the management has lost contact.
Some are under police investigation, so there is a possibility that these exchanges will not be able to return user investment.
[Park Seong-joon/Director of Dongguk University Blockchain Research Center: If there is an exchange that uses deposits in other ways, and the overall amount is insufficient, there may be cases where (withdrawal) is not possible.]
A company that the authorities said at the end of July that it has not yet applied for ISMS certification is reassuring investors that it has recently applied for certification, but it takes at least three months for certification, and it is impossible to report by the 24th.
[Korea Internet & Security Agency official: Because it can be sensitive, I can't give a specific answer even the name of the company (for which I applied for certification).] So
far, only one exchange that has reported to the financial authorities is Upbit.
In addition, it is known that about three other large exchanges, such as Bithumb and Coinone, will resolve the real-name account issue and complete the reporting process this week.
The financial authorities have responded to the closing of the exchange line, but it is evaluated that it is insufficient to resolve concerns about confusion.
(Video coverage: Gong Jin-goo, video editing: Jo Moo-hwan)