The CEO of Bithumb Korea, the domestic wing of the South Korean market-leading crypto exchange Bithumb, has forecasted that after soon-to-proclaim regulations kick in, there will only be within four and seven exchanges left standing compared to presently having almost 50 crypto trading platforms in the nation.
New rules governing the sector will become effective in March this year, although exchanges have been given an additional six months’ grace period in which to adopt full compliance measures.
The regulations will require exchanges to live by real-name banking protocols, with all customer accounts linked to an individual, social security number-authenticated bank accounts.
Banking agreements will be made at the sole discretion of banks, which will be able to rule on exchanges’ security. Additionally, platforms will have to obtain security and Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification and abide by anti-money laundering protocols.

Currently, only Bithumb – as well as its rivals Upbit, Korbit, and Coinone – have real-name banking capabilities. Some five or six other exchanges have recently obtained ISMS approval, however, indicating that they are hopeful of meeting compliance deadlines.
But in an interview with Hanguk Kyungjae, Bithumb Korea supremo Heo Baek-young, who was appointed to his current role in May last year, claimed that smaller companies would struggle to meet ISMS requirements.
He stated that post-March, “there will be only four exchanges left, and seven at most,” due to the prohibitive cost for SMEs of even attempting to obtain the ISMS certification required by the new legal amendment.
But Heo welcomed the rule change, as have many of the sector’s bigger players.
The CEO considered that a lack of regulation had allowed “companies with bad intentions” to “do business,” and claimed the rules were a step in “the right direction.”
Heo continued that his company also planned to expand in 2021, and intends to hire over 50 new staff members.
Nevertheless, the CEO made no mention of the fact that a controlling stake in the company has been put up for sale.
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