Bithumb Sets March 31 Vote on CEO Reappointment as Sanctions Bite

Overview

• Investors will vote on extending CEO Lee Jae-won’s tenure for two more years at the March 31 shareholder meeting.
• South Korea’s FIU levied a 36.8 billion won penalty and ordered a six-month partial suspension, blocking external transfers for new users from March 27 to Sept. 26.
• Bithumb will also seek approval to lift its limit for issuing convertible bonds and bonds with warrants to 300 billion won and to appoint Jeong Yeon-dae as auditor.
• A February promotion error that reportedly credited users with 2,000 Bitcoin instead of 2,000 won has prompted intensified scrutiny of internal controls.
• The exchange awaits Financial Supervisory Service findings on the payout incident and alleged order-book sharing, developments that could affect licensing as it remains South Korea’s No. 2 platform by volume.