Summary:
- FSS calls urgent meeting with top crypto exchanges over deposit fee hikes.
- Bithumb’s proposed 4% fee rate deemed potentially unreasonable.
- Competition and new regulations drive fee increases among exchanges.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has summoned the country’s five major crypto exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax—to address the ongoing controversy surrounding deposit usage fees. This urgent meeting, held on July 24, 2024, follows intensifying competition among exchanges to increase their fee rates in response to the implementation of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act.
The FSS intervention was triggered by Bithumb’s announcement on July 23 to raise its usage fee rate from 2.2% to 4.0% per annum. Although Bithumb later withdrew this decision, it came after several exchanges, including Upbit and Korbit, had already hiked their rates following the Act’s implementation on July 19-20. Upbit increased its rate from 1.3% to 2.1%, while Korbit raised its rate to 2.5%.
Financial authorities deemed Bithumb’s proposed 4% rate potentially unreasonable, citing Article 5 of the Virtual Asset Industry Supervision Regulations. This regulation mandates that deposit usage fees must be “reasonably calculated” based on operating income and incurred expenses.
The FSS’s move underscores the growing regulatory scrutiny in South Korea’s crypto market as authorities aim to ensure fair practices and protect users in the rapidly evolving digital asset space.
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