Korean crypto exchange Upbit restricts services for unverified accounts

Amidst the crypto exchange crackdown by the South Korean government, Upbit, the famous South Korean crypto platform, has announced to halt all its services for unverified accounts.

As per the official announcement by the company on Saturday, it released some of the alterations done during verification. This is done in accordance with the government’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) drive.

Upbit will stop the primary services for unverified user accounts this week. For instance, from Wednesday, unverified users cannot transfer over 1 million Korean won (approximately 850 dollars) in a single transaction.

Restrictions and instructions by Upbit

The company said that after the successful verification by the user, this limit would be removed. The company also informed that the unverified during these restrictions could verify themselves anytime.

After a week, the company will impose more limits on unverified users. From October 13, Upbit will stop all its trading, deposits, and withdrawal services for such users. However, the company said that these bans would be removed, and the services would resume once the account gets verified.

Upbit also added that in case a new user signs up after Wednesday, he/she can only use deposit and withdrawal service after they get themselves verified under AML. The government’s regulations are bothering many traders. However, as per the officials, it is necessary to stop the anonymous and criminal mindset that evades the taxes.

The platform also advised users to verify themselves through K Bank. K Bank is the official fiat on-ramp provider for the platform.

Upbit is the biggest crypto exchange in the country, which covers more than 80% of the total South Korean crypto investors.

The company’s customer verification process changed following South Korea’s AML regulations. As per the government, all local and foreign exchanges must provide real-name accounts to the government.

Some foreign as well as local exchanges, including Binance, have stopped their services by removing coin/KRW trading pairs and the Korean language from the platform.