Posted 3 weeks ago | by @devadmin
OKEx cryptocurrency exchange is set to shut down as South Korea passes a new law making order book sharing illegal between exchanges.
OKEx Korea released a statement in Korean stating customers must withdraw their fiat and crypto funds before Apr. 7th, at which time the exchange will shut down permanently and be unable to fulfill withdrawal orders.
Loosely translated:
“Hello, this is OKEx Korea.
OKEx Korea service has ended on April 7th.
We would like to thank all of our customers who have used OKEx Korea in the meantime,
and we hope that you must check the information below regarding the termination of the service.[Shutdown plan]
1. End date: April 7th (Wed) 18:00
2. End information:
1) End of transaction and cryptocurrency deposit
* Non- traded orders will be automatically cancelled.
2) End of withdrawal of KRW and cryptocurrency
3) End of service (login and information inquiry impossible)[Withdrawal processing regulations]
- Please be sure to withdraw the KRW and cryptocurrency you hold by April 7 (Wed), the service end date.
- After the end of the service, OKEx Korea will not be held liable for any losses arising from failure to withdrawal by the customer.
1. Cryptocurrency withdrawal information
-Withdrawals are available 24 hours until 18:00 on Wednesday, April 7th.
-Please proceed with withdrawal to your personal wallet and other exchanges.
-If the amount of cryptocurrency held is less than the sum of the minimum withdrawal amount and withdrawal fee, withdrawal support is
not available.
>>Check the cryptocurrency withdrawal guide2. Guide to withdrawal of KRW (KRW)
-Withdrawal application is available 24 hours until April 6 (Tue), and on April 7 (Wed), the end date is 16:00 PM. -Only
holders of KRW (KRW) prior to the end of the existing KRW (KRW)
market.-Withdrawal support is not available for KRW (KRW) with a withdrawal fee of 1,000 KRW or less.
-Withdrawals are processed once a business day. (In case of holiday, withdrawal on the next business day)
-The withdrawal application deadline is 16:00, and withdrawal processing is completed between 18:00 and 20:00.
>>Check the KRW (KRW) withdrawal guideFor related inquiries, please contact us via 1:1 inquiry or e-mail, and we will provide you with quick and accurate guidance.
Email address: help@okex.co.kr
Thank you.”
The exchange failed to provide a reason for the sudden closure. Although, new Korean legislation is likely the reason. From Mar. 25th onwards, Korean crypto exchanges will no longer be able to share order books with each other, which could potentially create major liquidity issues for smaller exchanges in the country. According to the Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transactions, all local virtual asset businesses or virtual asset service providers such as crypto exchanges will be required to report user info to the Financial Intelligence Unit under the Financial Services Commission, Cointelegraph reported.
VASPs will be required to setup real-name verification for deposits and withdrawals with an approved South Korean bank. According to Cointelegraph, In order to report, each local VASP must apply for certification with the Information Security Management System.
Binance Korea shut down late last year after Binance’s short expansion in the area.
“After the end of the service, OKEx Korea will not be held liable for any losses arising from failure to withdrawal by customers,” OKEx Korea said in the press release.
The announcement comes shortly after OKEx Korea temporarily halted withdrawals on March 15th due to “maintenance issues.” This also comes after OKex’s CEO Xu Mingxing was arrested last year and later released, which also halted withdrawals for a period of time, as Bitboy Crypto reported.
OKEx Korea had an estimated $3.5 million in total trading volume in the last 24 hours according to Coingecko. That is a relatively small sum of the overall trading volume compared to the bigger picture of the whole market. However, Korea is home to even smaller exchanges than OKex, which may now be forced to close as well. So we could witness a cascading effect of closures in South Korea due to the enforcement of this new law.
Huobi Korea, another exchange, may also suffer liquidity issues in the area. At the same time, this law may impact the $2 billion deal for Morgan Stanley to buy Korean exchange Bithumb.
After the publication of this story, an OKEx Korea official told crypto news outlet The Block that there were other issues as well that prompted the exchange’s closure.
“We struggled to get ISMS [Information Security Management System certificate] and virtual account [bank account required to get licensed],” said the official. “As a joint venture company with OKEx.com, it was hard to decide, but we had no other option.”
Bitcoin is currently trading at [FIAT: $55,674.71] DOWN -2.4% in the last 24 hours, according to Coingecko at the time of this report.
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