Korea’s biggest crypto exchange bans accounts from 11 countries

South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb has banned crypto trading in 11 different countries such as Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, in an attempt to counter money laundering, as noted in a company’s official statement via Cointelegraph.

Bithumb, the fifth largest crypto exchange in the world by trading volume, has banned accounts from its platform which were associated with the Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) initiative. NCCT list includes the countries which don’t cooperate in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) initiative and are accused of funding terrorist activities. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the institution that formulates and updates such lists.

The countries which are most likely to come under new jurisdiction defined by Bithumb include; Iran, Ethiopia, Iraq, North Korea, Serbia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia. Bithumb has started rejecting account registration applications from these countries, however, the deadline for the removal of existing accounts is mentioned as June 21.

According to an official statement by the company;

“NCCT users will be prevented from using the exchange so that cryptocurrency is not used to fund international terrorism. We will strictly enforce our own rules and protect our investors, and we will actively cooperate with the authorities.”

The newly implemented standards imply the achievement of a significant milestone as they will allow cryptocurrency market to be immune from illicit transactions so that more investors could join the league.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency market is going through major regulatory reforms in various countries like Japan. The purpose of these regulations is to offer a clear legal framework for companies, institutions, and individuals to work more efficiently.