South Korean crypto exchanges unleash AML initiative
Four South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges – Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Upbit – have unveiled a joint initiative to increase anti-money laundering (AML) efforts and “foster a healthier trading environment”.
Hello hotline
The quartet says a hotline dedicated to AML issues will be established amongst their respective teams responsible for user protection and fraud detection.
Wallet information involving trades with suspected connections to voice phishing, predatory lending, pyramid schemes, and other illegal activities will be shared in real time through the hotline, allowing relevant exchanges to protect their users by preventing further transfer of assets.
The exchanges will operate a collective database of suspicious wallet addresses.
The group says: “In the case of a scammer looking to utilise various exchanges to disperse a large quantity of assets to the same wallet, all four exchanges will be able to identify and prevent such activities via the shared database.”
To placate any fears that they weren’t alert to threats before, the firms say they have experience operating bank-authenticated virtual accounts, “resulting in strong relationships with traditional financial institutions”.
All this is just another example of companies and nations waking up to the concerns over cryptocurrencies.
Just last week, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority was in a consulting mood as it sought to set out the cryptoasset activities it regulates.
In other news, back in June 2018, KRW 35 billion ($31 million) in cryptocurrency was stolen by hackers from Bithumb.
